Acts of God and Men
by Aggie Escott
Summary: After a tornado devastates a town in Nebraska, evidence of a serial killer is uncovered. Yay Aaron-centric but Spencer's in it too, I promise! Rated K plus for sexual torture, although not explicit. Please R&R Darlings xx
1. Profiles

**ACTS OF GOD AND MEN**

Chapter 1

Profiles

"_**Fanatics in power and the funnel of a tornado have this in common - the narrow path in which they move is marked by violence and destruction"**__** - **__** Oscar Ostlund**_

They sat around the table and looked at the awful images that JJ was showing them. Two men and a woman, tortured and killed, each in totally different ways.

"They hadn't connected the murders until the Tornado hit three days ago. Then this was uncovered.

Another picture was brought onto the screen. This was what looked like a basement, now open to the sky. Lying on the floor were the bodies. It wasn't possible to tell how many there were. They were in a pile against the wall, as if thrown there down the steps.

"So if the tornado hadn't flattened the building, they wouldn't have found the bodies." said Reid.

"Possibly. At least, not yet." JJ continued.

"And the three victims they already had would not be connected." said Hotch.

"So how have they connected the three with the bodies in the cellar?" Morgan asked.

"There are six bodies, like the others, tortured, raped and killed in different ways. Three men and three women. Ages between forty and forty five. We have been asked for help. The local force is a bit overwhelmed with the tornado. There's a lot of looting, and keeping law and order is taking up all their resources."

"Ok, we'll discuss it further on the plane. Wheels up in twenty." Hotch was on his feet already.

-0-0-0-

Broken Bow was a small town of about 4000 people in central Nebraska, surrounded by forest and hills. But the community had been devastated by the tornado. There had been no press release about the serial killer. The PD had decided that they had enough to think about with rebuilding their town. When they arrived, Aaron asked to go to what was left of the crime scene. Rossi, Morgan and Reid stayed to work on Victimology and a geographic profile. JJ liaised with the police and set up a room for them to use. Emily went with Hotch.

There was not a lot left of the crime scene remaining. The storm had removed the building above, and any evidence was long gone. Hotch stood at the edge of the basement pit and looked down. The bodies had been removed, and all they could now see was the debris left by the storm. While Emily sifted through the surface remains of the clapboard single storey house, Hotch climbed down into the basement to take a closer look at where the bodies had been lying.

The police had drawn around the bodies after photographing and before removing them to the morgue. But there really wasn't anything to see.

He climbed back out, and he and Emily drove back to the make shift police station. One of the few buildings to escape being flattened was the school, and this was where the police had set up.

It wasn't possible to build up a full geographic profile, as three of the victims had yet to be identified, but all those who had been were from Broken Bow or nearby communities. They had in common their ages, the youngest being a woman of forty one, the oldest a man of forty six, so far. They had looks in common; dark hair, athletic and healthy. But so far, they had found nothing else to connect them. They had been taken on different days, between ten and eleven in the evening, and it seemed as if they had been followed home after a night out.

The profile was scanty. A white male, unemployed or working part time or shifts, as time was needed to carry out the crimes. Intelligent, organised, and a loner. Only three of the victims had been buried, and according to the pathologist, they had died first. So he was cautious, not wanting to draw attention to his crimes. So the UnSub was killing for a reason other than recognition.

There was a strong sexual element in the crimes. The women had been raped, and the men assaulted with an object. There had been no contact with the media, but likely there had been a lot of contact with the victims.

He would likely insert himself into the investigation, if he hadn't already. It was something they would have to watch for, now that the crimes were connected.

"Now the victims have been found, there will be another kidnapping and murder." Rossi said. "He needs to visit the corpses for his own pleasure, and now he can't. There will definitely be more."

"Unless there already has been another." Reid said.

Morgan said, "The storm could trigger an escalation. These killings were about a month apart at first, then became closer together, until the last two were a week apart."

Hotch sent the others to the hotel to secure the rooms, and get a few hours sleep, while he went over the victim profiles again.

He could see nothing more connecting them. He laid out the pictures next to each other on the table. Five men and four women. Dark hair, early forties. Very alike, but none related. Some married, some not, Some with children, some without.

He called Garcia and sent her what they had on the victims so far.

"See if you can come up with anything else connecting them. There must be more than we've got so far."

"Sure will, Boss." she answered. "I'll get back to you as soon as I have found anything."

Hotch sighed and cut the connection. His right leg was sending sharp pains up his leg into his groin, and his shoulders ached. He wondered if he would always get these pains as an aftermath of his ordeal in the hands of the Masefield twins. It had been four months now, and he still had nightmares about it. He had spoken to Reid about them, and he had been supportive, but when it came down to it, it was something he had to cope with alone. Only he walked the path of his dreams, and when he slept, he was alone.

He gathered up the photos into the folder, and put them in the filing cabinet that they had been provided with, and limped painfully to the door. He ought to get back to the hotel. He had booked a room to himself, not wanting Morgan or Reid to put up with his thrashing and crying that accompanied his sleep.

He felt an urge to call Jack and tell him he loved him. He was staying with Uncle Sean for a few days. He checked the time. Eleven thirty. Too late to call.

Again.

How many times had this happened with Haley? And now she was gone.

He made a promise to himself to call Jack in the morning, and he set a reminder on his phone.

-0-0-0-

The others had taken the SUV's, so he had to walk to the hotel, just outside the centre of town. He limped out of the station, trying to put his weight on his left leg. He wondered if he really was ready to come back to work. He couldn't allow his disability to put his team in danger. He walked down the steps of the school, wincing as the pain as the pain shot through him again. He attempted to walk upright, to ignore it.

He felt a hand on his elbow. "Are you alright, Agent Hotchner?"

Hotch smiled at the cop. They had met briefly earlier when they were delivering the profile – such as it was.

"I'm fine. I broke my leg a few weeks back and it plays up when I'm tired."

"Where're you staying?" he said. "I can walk with you. I'd like to hear about how you profiled our killer."

As they walked together through the empty debris strewn streets, Hotch could only think about a hot bath to alleviate the pain, and a couple of hours in bed, (maybe even have some sleep) before starting with the victim profile in earnest in the morning.

"So," said the cop. "White male. Why?"

Aaron stopped and leaned against the wall and lifted his right foot off the ground. He sighed with relief, wishing he had hired a taxi. He didn't realise it was this far.

_So...why a white male?..._

Aaron closed his eyes, trying to think past the pain. The cop reached forward and caught hold of Aaron's hair, pulled his head forwards, and cracked it back against the wall. Aaron's eyes widened in shock, lifting his weakened arms to try and get the man's fingers out of his hair, but before he could do anything, the cop had hit his head on the wall again.

This time, Hotch felt the skin break, and warm blood trickled down onto his shirt collar. Ignoring the hand in his hair, he went for his gun, but his movements were slow and painful, and the cop got there first, putting it in his own pocket. Twisting his hand, he forced Aaron down onto his knees. Hotch cried out for help, and the cop kneed him in the face. He was dazed, and as the cop released his hair he fell onto his hands and knees, trying to focus. He made an attempt to get up, but the cop kicked him savagely in the groin from behind, and Aaron yelped, falling forwards onto his bleeding face, gasping for breath. His eyes were watering, and he was shaking with the knowledge that he had been walking with an UnSub who had so far tortured and killed nine people.

Through a mist of pain, he heard a car pull up beside them. He felt a grip on his ankle, and his second gun being removed. Unable to react, he was dragged to the back of the car, picked up and dropped into the boot of the car. He lay still, not able to move or protect himself. Someone hit him and darkness engulfed him


	2. Photograph

Chapter 2

Photograph

"_**I assess the power of a will by how much resistance, pain, torture it endures and knows how to turn to its advantage."**__** - **__** Friedrich Nietzsche**_

Rossi had a room to himself, and was the first to wake up the next morning. It was five thirty, an hour before they were due back at the school.

He phoned Morgan and Emily, to make sure they were up. When he called Hotch, he wasn't too surprised that he didn't answer. The chances are that he stayed in the office and maybe slept on one of the couches.

He showered and dressed, then went to make sure Aaron wasn't in his room.

It was too early for breakfast, so the five of them went straight back to the school to make a start on the Victimology.

There was an envelope on Rossi's desk. Absently he opened it while asking Morgan to go and find Aaron. When he saw what was in the envelope, he sat down in shock.

"Morgan, stay here. You won't find Hotch." Rossi said. "He's not here."

He put the photograph on the desk for them to see.

"Oh my god!"

The team stared in horror...

-0-0-0-

Gradually Aaron became aware of all embracing pain. He tried to think back to what had happened. He could remember walking out of the school, and the cop had been walking with him. He felt a momentary wave of panic sweep over him as he remembered.

He attempted to turn onto his back in the confined space and the excruciating pain that shot up from his groin into his abdomen made him violently sick. Coughing and gagging, Aaron tried to arch away from the floor of the car, but there wasn't enough room. He tried to move his head; it felt as if a knife was cutting through it. He moved his hand carefully to the back of his head, and felt sticky clotting blood in his hair.

Sick and in pain he collapsed back down. Fumes were leaking into the confined space, and he was feeling light headed. He started to cough again, the movement bringing pain with it.

Tears formed in his eyes as the gasses he was breathing slowly poisoned him.

_Oh god no...I have to get out of this now_

He fumbled with the lock of the boot lid, trying to find a way to open it from the inside, but his fingers were becoming numb. He laid back down to get his breath back.

The car stopped.

Aaron tried to prepare himself for the UnSub opening the boot.

He blinked as a torch was shone in his eyes. Rough hands reached in and grabbed his tie and pulled him upwards out of the boot. Aaron was too dazed to fight as he was thrown onto the ground. His arms were twisted up behind him and he was pulled to his feet. Aaron's legs buckled and he fell down onto his knees.

"Get up!" Aaron was pulled up again, he screamed as his arms pulled backwards and the muscles that had so recently been repaired took his weight. He stumbled forwards in the pitch dark, desperate to keep on his feet.

He was shoved towards a building he could make out in front of him. The cop kicked open a metal security door, and Aaron was pushed into the disused building.

The cop dropped Aaron onto the floor, and he instantly made to stand up and face his attacker, but before he could, the cop hit the back of his head again with his gun. Blood sprayed from the wound, and Aaron collapsed face down on the dirty floor.

-0-0-0-

It took a moment for Aaron to understand where he was. He was lying face down on a bed, his forearms taped together along to head rail from his elbows to his wrists, pulling his shoulders off the bed. He could feel straps around his ankles, his legs pulled taut behind him. He had no opportunity of movement, and it took a moment for him to realise he had been stripped.

"Wha...what are you doing? Why?" Aaron attempted to turn his head and look at the cop who was standing over him. He could just see him, holding in his hand a split bamboo pole. He slapped it across his hand, then used it on Aaron's back.

The sudden pain made Hotch cry out as the split ends of the bamboo cut into the skin on his back, and streams of blood ran down his sides onto the bed.

"Oh please...no!" and the cane once again found new unbroken skin on his lower back and the backs of his legs. Again he screamed, his head flung back and his body trying to twist away from the assault.

"Why are you...?"

The third time the cane cut into his back, Aaron's body jarred, and his leg twisted in his hip, sending waves of agony into his groin again. He moaned softly and as blood ran freely from torn flesh, just as he fainted, he heard a camera click and saw a flash of light.

-0-0-0-

Reid put on some gloves and picked up the photo. He turned it over in his hands. The back was blank.

"Was there a message with it?" he asked.

Rossi shook his head. "Just the picture."

Reid held it up to the light. "No watermark. Just standard photo paper from a standard ink jet printer." He passed the photo to Morgan who had evidence bags ready for the photo and the envelope.

"I'll get these down to the lab." he said. "I won't put it through the system. I don't think all the lab-rats need to see it."

Rossi nodded. "Make a copy of it first, Derek. We might be able to get some clues from the background. Reid, you and Emily trace Hotch's steps and see if you can find anything."

Reid picked up his messenger bag and he and Emily left the school. It was early morning, and people were just starting to work again on clearing away the debris and rubbish that was everywhere. They quickened their pace, concerned that the crime scene would be compromised.

Emily saw the blood first.

"Over here, Reid." She trained her flashlight on the patch on the wall. Reid looked closely.

"There's dark hair caught on the stonework" he said, removing a sample and placing it in an evidence bag.

"There's blood here too." she said, kneeling on the pavement. "He must have been attacked by someone he knew. He would never have allowed anyone to get close enough unless he trusted them. He was armed, and alert."

"He's still having physiotherapy to get full movement back in his limbs." Reid said. "He would likely not have been in a position to defend himself. Have you noticed how he limps when he gets tired? I think he has been suffering in silence."

Emily agreed. They had all been worried about their team leader since he had been left for dead by the Masefields. But he showed patience and endurance as usual, and told no-one of the pain he was suffering.

Emily called Rossi, and told him they had found the primary crime scene. Reid had some crime scene tape in his bag, and Emily cordoned off the area.

"The UnSub must have used a car to take him away from the scene." Reid said. He looked both ways up the street. "The car could only have gone north." he said. "The road is blocked to the south."

"We need a car to try and follow the way he was taken." Emily said, looking round at the devastation. "There's no chance of any security videos."

By the time Rossi and Morgan arrived, a small group of people had gathered to watch. Emily and Reid were talking to them, trying to find out if anyone had seen or heard anything the previous night. But most of the buildings had been evacuated, and there weren't many who till lived on the street.

"I think I heard a shout at around midnight." one woman said. "I haven't moved out of my house, because everything I own is there. It will get looted if I leave. Your lot have done nothing to stop the looting." she added angrily.

"Did you see anything?" Reid asked.

"No. I didn't look out. It's not safe."

"Thank you." he said. He left the group of onlookers and went over to Rossi. "We need to try and find out the route the UnSub went. We could get a clue where they took him." Reid's mind flashed back to the photo Rossi had been sent. They needed to find Aaron quickly. Reid felt a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach.

-0-0-0-

When Aaron woke up, he was lying on his side in a barred cage. It was about four foot square, not allowing him to lie outstretched or stand. The blood had dried on his back and in his hair. He was very cold, shivering in the darkness. He could hear water dripping somewhere, and the metal floor of the cage was wet.

He had a heavy metal bands locked around his wrists and ankles, and a wider one around his neck. It felt tight, and for a moment he panicked.

He breathed steadily, trying to remain calm. He couldn't think if he was in a panic.

He was too cold to think anyway.

He drew his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, desperate to keep warm.

He rocked from side to side, moaning softly, trying not to imagine what was going to happen to him.


	3. The Cage

Chapter 3

The Cage

"_**A beast does not know that he is a beast, and the nearer a man gets to being a beast, the less he knows it." **__**-**__** George MacDonald  
**_

All leave had been cancelled. One of their own was missing, all other cases had been put on hold, and everyone was working double shifts.

But there were no leads. Reid had copied the route that the car that took Aaron must have taken, but once he got out of Broken Bow, the UnSub could have taken any direction.

"The other victims were kept alive for up to a week." said Rossi. "So there's still time..."

Rossi, Reid and Morgan went over the profile again.

"White male, in his twenties. Organised and controlled, intelligent, highly sexed, probably visits prostitutes." Reid started.

"He'll have a job which requires a lot of planning, and he works shifts." Morgan added. "He was able to access the office and leave you the photograph."

"It's not really secure though, not like a normal police head quarters." Emily said. "Virtually anyone could have left it."

"No-one saw anything, but then there weren't many people about that early in the morning." said Reid.

"Our UnSub is a powerful man," Rossi said. "He overpowered Hotch without much trouble."

"Hotch may have known him, to allow him to get that close without having time to use his gun." Reid said.

They looked around the room at the cops working the case.

"He could be a cop." Emily said what they were all thinking.

"Let's chat with them." Dave said.

One of the cops was a bit worried. He had left Hotchner in the cage in the cellar. It was cold down there, and he had left him no clothes or blankets. And he had just been told he had to work sixteen hours before he could get away. He really didn't want to go back and find a corpse in the cage. He was also concerned that the cellar could flood. The water table had risen since the storm, and it had suddenly got damp in there.

He was staring at the crime scene photographs but not really seeing them, his eyes glazed over. He didn't notice Reid come and sit down opposite him.

"Have you seen anything we missed?" he asked.

The cop visibly jumped. He looked across at Reid, clearly annoyed. "You almost gave me a coronary!" he snapped. "You shouldn't creep up on a guy!"

"Did you see Agent Hotchner leave here last night?" Reid asked.

"No. Why should I have?"

"He left late, and I see from the roster that you were here late last night too."

"I didn't see him." The cop gathered up the photographs, and left the table. Reid watched him go, then he went back to the others. He felt there was something wrong with the cop's attitude, but he had no evidence. He decided to watch him for a while, see if he gave anything away in his behaviour.

-0-0-0-

Aaron was lying still on his side on the floor of the cage, arms tight around his knees. The cold had stopped his back and legs from hurting, but moving was becoming more difficult as his body stiffened and his temperature dropped. He had not been left any water, and he was dehydrating, wincing in pain, he rolled onto his hands and knees, and reached cramped fingers to the bars.

As he touched the bars, the electric shock jolted through his body, and his fingers involuntarily gripped the bars. His teeth gritted together and he threw his head back, pained cries forming in his throat. The current travelled through his weakened body into the water on the floor. With all his strength, he forced his fingers off the bar and fell back hard onto the cold metal floor, panting with exhaustion.

He felt the wounds on his back open again, and the blood stained the water pink, turning red as he bled.

Shakily he turned onto his hands and knees again. He hung his head forwards, shaking and shivering, crouched in the centre of the cage. He could see the lock on the door, but he wasn't able to touch it. Another shock like that could easily kill him.

He bent his knees and rested his head on his arms, rocking and whimpering, curled up and cold and afraid.

-0-0-0-

Aaron didn't know how long he had lain there, but he was seriously hypothermic, and struggled to turn his head when the cop came back and turned on the light.

He closed his eyes against the glare and curled up tighter. He wanted to press into a corner but he was afraid of the electric current that flowed through the bars of the cage.

A hand reached through the bars and a chain was clipped onto the metal collar around his neck, the door was opened, and Aaron was jerked out of the cage onto the rough concrete floor. He groaned softly as he was hauled up onto his feet. His limbs shook as he tried to remain upright, his arms wrapped around his body protectively.

Aaron was cold and shivering; the floor was a few inches deep in water, and Aaron's bare feet were numb. He tried to catch the eye of his tormentor, but the cop was avoiding eye contact.

"W-why are you d-doing this?" Aaron asked, the pains in his joints sending waves of agony through his body.

"You are going to suffer for the years of abuse I went through at the hands my father. You are responsible. You will die for it."

"My Dad used to beat me." Aaron said softly.

The cop faltered as he pulled Aaron across the room, but he didn't stop. He attached the end of the chain to a ring in the ceiling. Aaron reached up and held onto the chain, to ease the pressure of the band digging into his neck.

"Every day when I got home from school..."

"Shut up. I couldn't care less about your father!" He hit Aaron in the face, splitting his lip, and the inside of his mouth filled with blood. His neck cracked and the scarring rubbed on the collar, cutting the newly healed skin, causing it to bleed. He felt the warmth of his blood run down his back.

"I was going to leave you in the cage." the cop said, "But I might leave you here. I haven't decided yet." He smiled at Aaron. "Now for some fun!"

Still hanging onto the chain, Aaron watched the cop go to the edge of the room and pick up the split bamboo cane. Without saying a word, he swung it in a wide arc and began to beat him with it. Aaron tried to protect himself with his hands, but when he released the chain, his weight was taken by the collar, and tightened around his throat.

The cop started on Aaron's front, cutting parallel lines of pain across his chest and abdomen, moving around him to his back. Aaron started by not crying out, but as the rod cut into already split skin, he couldn't hold back from screaming, the pain weakening his resolve. He couldn't let go of the chain, and the rod cut into his underarms.

When finally the blood loss and pain became too much, Aaron fainted, his hands fell away, and he hung by his neck. Quickly, the cop unclipped the chain and allowed Aaron's body to fall to the ground in the pool of bloody water that had collected at his feet. The cop looked down at his father, and kicked him hard in the ribs. Aaron tried to crawl away, to find some protection. The cop grabbed his ankles and dragged him back. Aaron fought and struggled against the cop, but with his beaten weak condition, he didn't stand a chance. The cop sat astride him, pushing his face down into the water to subdue him. Aaron pushed against the floor, needing to breathe, needing to get his face out of the water. He managed to turn sideways, and took a gulp of air.

The cop was holding a dusty wine bottle. Aaron panicked, realising what he was going to do with it. He remembered how the other victims had been abused...

_Oh god no! Please, not that..._

The pain was different to anything he had felt before. He felt as if he was being ripped apart from inside. He screamed as the cop smiled, blood spurting and his insides ripping. The harder Aaron struggled, the mre it hurt.

The cop finished, and threw the bottle against the wall. Aaron's breath came in agonised cries, as he tried to cope with the pain.

The cop was laughing. Now it was his turn. He slid further along Aaron's bloody body and started again.

Aaron didn't move. He lay still in the rising water and cried.

When he had finished, the cop dragged an unresisting Hotchner back across the room and rolled him into the cage.

"We're working double shifts, Hotchner, trying to find you." he grinned. "It'll be a while before I can get back and have more fun."

Aaron didn't move from where he lay, bent double, blood smeared over his back and legs. In the distance he heard the door close, and the hum as the current was switched on again.

Aaron didn't move or react, he concentrated on breathing. The excruciating pain in his back and groin was unbelievable. Carefully he moved trembling shaking arms around himself and he rocked and whimpered as the light went out and the door closed.


	4. Reunited

Chapter 4

Reunited

"_**Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood."**__** - **__** William Shakespeare**_

Reid was going over the information they had so far. The building where they found the bodies was disused, and nothing further could be gained there He had asked Garcia to find as much information as she could about the cop he had been watching.

His name was Steven Harris. He had joined the police from school. He wasn't well liked by his colleagues; he was always aggressive towards his co-workers, and especially to suspects. His recent history was especially interesting.

"His parents were suspected of abuse." Garcia said. "Charges were going to be brought, when they were both killed in a car accident. The police suspected that the car had been sabotaged, but it could never be proved."

"He wears a wedding ring. Have you got anything on his family?"

"It seems his wife sued for divorce three months ago." Garcia continued. "Does that help?"

"It does." Reid said slowly. "Do you have any photographs of his family?"

"Nothing on his wife, but there are some of his parents. I'll send them to your PDA."

"Thank you." Reid took his PDA out of his bag, waiting for the download.

"Babes? Is there any news on Hotch?"

"Nothing yet, Garcia." Reid said, as the picture came up on the screen. He stared at the picture. "But I think there might be now."

He closed the connection, and plugged his PDA into the printer, printing out the pictures of Harris's parents. Then he put the pictures on the board with the pictures of the victims, and Hotchner.

_Oh god. That's how he chooses his victims..._

All the people in the pictures could have been related...tall, athletic, dark good looks. He was punishing his parents!

He went over the victims' injuries in his mind as he called Rossi. If this is what his parents did to him, it was no wonder that he turned.

It was a reason, though, not an excuse. He knew that Aaron had been brutalised as a child, but he chose another route.

He called Rossi.

"Rossi, yes, I'm pretty sure that I know who the UnSub is..."

The rest of the team were visiting the families of the victims. Rossi said he would round up the others and get straight back to the school.

Reid stared at the side by side photographs on the board. He reached up and touched one of them.

_We'll find you, Aaron. Just hold on...don't give up..._

-0-0-0-

Harris watched Reid as he looked at the pictures. So he'd figured it out had he?

He had to get him out of there before the rest of the team got back.

The school was deserted of cops, they were all out either on this case, or directing the big clean up.

Perfect.

He walked into the room where the profilers had been working. He picked up a paperweight off one of the desks as he quietly walked up behind Spencer.

"Agent Reid!"

Spencer was deep in thought. He jumped, and turned to face the cop.

"Oh...hello."

He was supposed to be out on the streets, not hanging around here.

Harris swung the paperweight and hit Reid on the forehead.

Reid staggered backwards into the board, raising his hands protectively.

"I know you're on to me. So now I have to get rid of you."

Reid couldn't speak. His eyes were clouding, and he fell back, knocking the board down and falling on top of it. With dimming vision, he looked up at his attacker.

"I won't kill you here, though. I expect you would first like to see what I've done to your lover." He reached down and grabbed Reid by the scruff of the neck, pulling him up so that they were face to face. He swung Reid around, and pushed him down onto the table. Reid reached around for something he could use as a weapon, knocking papers and files onto the floor. But the table was clear.

"He's n-not my lover." Reid whispered.

"I'm not stupid. I've seen the way you look at him. I saw you touch his picture. Do you think you are the only one around here that can run a profile?"

Reid's last thought as Harris brought down the paperweight onto his head again was of Aaron.

Harris picked Reid up easily and flung him over his shoulder. He carried the unconscious agent out through the back way where his car was waiting.

-0-0-0-

Reid woke up in the same fume filled car boot as Aaron had done. He could smell the metallic odour of Aaron's blood and vomit over the acrid exhaust fumes, and the floor where he was lying was sticky. There was a lot of blood, and he felt sick with fear for his friend.

He tried to remember whether he had told Rossi who the UnSub was. His head hurt when ever he moved, and his brain was on shut down, and thinking beyond his present predicament wasn't an option.

He needed to concentrate on staying alive if he was going to be any help to Aaron. He moved to the edge of the boot space, where there was a tiny gap where the boot closed, and breathed the fresh air that was leaking in.

-0-0-0-

Rossi, Morgan and Emily ran into the room and stopped short when they saw the devastation.

"We're too late." Morgan said under his breath.

"Oh no! Not again!" Emily breathed, remembering the last time Reid had been taken.

"Get this place profiled!" Rossi said. "Reid told me he knew who the UnSub is. Retrace his thoughts and work it out."

_Retrace Reid's thoughts?_

Morgan picked up his Mobile off the floor, and opened it.

"The last person he spoke to was Garcia." Morgan speed dialled her office.

"Steven Harris." Garcia told him. "He asked for pictures of his parents."

She quickly told Morgan of Harris's history, and as Emily picked up the board, Morgan stared at the two new pictures that Reid had placed there. "I'll call you back." he said, not taking his eyes off the board.

"We have out UnSub." he said. "And a motive."

"All we need is a location." Rossi leaned on the table and looked down.

"He had to abandon his last place in a hurry after the storm." Emily said, "So where would he go?"

Rossi thought of the devastated town, and all the thousands of hiding places he could use now that so many of the buildings were abandoned.

Morgan called Garcia back. They needed everything there was on Harris.

-0-0-0-

The car stopped and Reid fell back onto the floor, and waited. When the boot opened, he put his hands in front of his eyes as a bright light was shone in them. A hand reached in and pulled him out by the front of his shirt. Harris was strong. Reid had no chance. With an arm around his neck, and his own gun in the back, he was marched through a metal safety door and shoved inside. He quickly turned round to face Harris. He raised his hands in front of him.

"You are making things worse for yourself, Steven. A jury would show mercy, considering what you've been through, but only if you let us go."

Harris cocked the gun and raised it.

"Shut up and turn round."

Reid did as he was told. This man had nothing to lose. Reid knew that he was only still alive because Harris wanted to show him what he had done to Aaron. If he hadn't thought they were lovers, he doubted that he would have lived this long.

"Open the door in front of you." Harris said.

Reid saw another metal door at the end of the corridor he was standing in. He walked towards it, trying to think of something he could do.

"If you let us go, you could plead insanity. If you kill us, it'll be..."

The gun poked Reid in the back.

"I said, open the door."

Reid opened the door. Beyond the door was darkness. He took a careful step forwards.

There was a flight of stairs in front of him. Harris pushed him, and Reid slipped onto his back, and fell down the steps into the water on the floor of the cellar.

He lay at the bottom of the flight, breathing heavily. His back had scraped down the concrete steps, and the back of his head had hit several on the way down

It was pitch dark in the cellar, and the water was several inches deep. If he stayed there, he would probably drown.

_Was Aaron down here?_

Painfully and slowly, he turned onto his front, holding his head with one hand, leaning on the stairs with the other in an attempt to get on his feet. A dim light came on, just in time for him to see the foot that kicked him in the chin.

He fell back into the water and didn't move.


	5. Desperation

Chapter 5

Desperation

"_**He today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother." - **__** William Shakespeare **_

Reid lay dazed in the water at the foot of the stairs. He knew he had to move, but his body was not yet ready to obey his brain. He could feel the water lapping around his body. Harris had gone, but he didn't know how long for. He had to find Hotch while he had the chance.

He forced himself onto his hands and knees, and looked around the dimly lit cellar.

In the corner he saw the cage.

There was something lying in the cage, on the floor.

Reid crawled through the water towards the cage, trying to identify what he could see.

_Oh god...Aaron!_

Reid was on his feet, running the rest of the way. He saw wires attached to the top of the cage, and he pulled them away in a shower of sparks.

"Aaron! Hotch! Oh god! Aaron!"

The man lying on the floor didn't move. His body slick with blood, curled on his side, still bleeding onto the floor. Reid reached out and touched him.

His body was cold, and unmoving. Reid found a weak pulse, but couldn't feel him breathe. He crawled into the cage and moved around to his head. Very carefully he lifted Aaron's head and rested it on his lap. Aaron's eyes were closed, his bruised cut lips slightly open. Reid lifted his hands out of the water and held them in his. Aaron's cold blue fingers were limp.

"Aaron! Hotch, can you hear me?"

Reid carefully wiped Hotch's face, brushing his hair to the side. He took off his jacket and tied the sleeves around his waist. He rubbed at Aaron's hands, trying to get circulation back.

"Aaron! Please, we have to get out!"

The sound of the door opening froze him.

"Ahh, I see you've found him." Harris called from the top of the stairs.

Reid shook Aaron again.

"For god's sake! Wake up!"

Harris came over to the cage, pointing the gun at Reid's head, he got hold of Aaron's legs, pulling him away from Reid. He pulled Reid's jacket off him and dropped it into the corner. Reid threw his body over Aaron's, holding on to him around the waist.

"Leave him alone! Can't you see what you are doing to him?"

"Get off him or I'll blow your goddamn brains out!"

He pressed the gun barrel into the back of Reid's neck.

"Get off now."

He kicked Reid under the chin again, sending him sprawling backwards into the cage.

Shoving Aaron's lifeless body out of the way, he swung the cage door shut again and locked it. Reid grabbed the bars.

"Leave him! He'll die!"

"Yes, very probably. Now get back." He kicked at Reid's fingers.

Harris picked up Aaron's arms and dragged him over to the hook in the ceiling. He attached chains to his wrists and hung his body from the hook.

"Please! Don't hurt him again! Let me take his place! Don't...please..."

Harris ignored Reid and concentrated on the man in front of him. He took a small bottle out of his pocket and held it under Aaron's nose. Aaron shook, and raised his head. He opened his eyes to look at his tormentor.

Harris picked up the bamboo rod and began beating Aaron again. Each time the rod cut his skin, Aaron flinched. His head hung forward, and once again, blood stained the water at his feet.

Reid watched in horror. He wanted to turn away, but he wasn't able to.

_Aaron...don't die. Be strong!_

The blood ran down Aaron's bare legs and chest. His body shaking with the effort of staying alive. When Harris unclipped him from the ring, this time, Aaron made no attempt to crawl away. He fell and lay prone, his head turned and looking at Reid with his dark terrified eye, crying tears of impotent shame.

He knew what was going to happen next.

_Reid...please, look away. I can't take this. This is going to kill me...Reid, please don't watch..._

As if Reid could hear his desperation, he hung his head and wept into his hands. He wanted to help. All he could do was listen as Aaron screamed as Harris abused him. The screaming suddenly stopped. Reid looked up.

Aaron wasn't moving, and there was so much blood. Harris was sitting astride him, holding a bottle.

_Oh god...so much blood..._

Harris stood up, and dragged Aaron by the arms back to the cage, leaving a thick trail of blood across the floor.

Harris dumped the body outside the cage.

"I'm not going to be away long, so don't get any ideas." Harris went back up the stairs, turned off the light and left.

Reid crawled to the side of the cage and reached through. He found Hotch's hands and took them in his.

"Aaron...please, wake up..."

Reid was crying with fear and frustration. He left Hotch and went to the door, and shook it. He felt along the bars for the lock. There was no way he was going to break out. He leaned his forehead against the bars. What the hell was he going to do?

He crawled back to Hotch and reached for him again. His skin was slippery with blood, but Reid put one arm under him, and the other over his chest, and drew him close to the bars.

"Aaron...Hotch, it's Spencer...please, Aaron...wake up..." he sobbed, "Please..."

-0-0-0-

When Harris came back, and put on the light, he stared at the two men down below him. Hotchner was probably dead now, time to dump the body.

He still wasn't sure what he was going to do with Reid. Maybe just leave him in the cage, let him die there.

He had to get away now they knew who he was.

"Damn you, Reid."

He took Reid's gun out of his pocket and fired into the cage.

Reid fell back onto the floor of the cage with a cry, the bullet caught his shoulder. Harris stood by Hotch, and kicked him. His body slid in the bloody mess around him. Reid lay on the floor, hand on his shoulder looking up at Harris. His eyes were wide and pleading.

"Just let me be with Hotch as he dies." he begged. "Please."

Harris looked at the body on the floor, then back at Reid. He bent down and undid the lock. Pointing the gun at Reid, he let him crawl out and round to the side to Hotch.

Reid took his friend in his arms. He held him close, against his chest. Faintly he could feel Aaron's heart beating against all odds.

Somehow he had to overpower this cop and save Hotch.

One arm around Aaron's waist, the other on the back of his head, he desperately thought through his options. At least he knew Hotch hadn't died.

He rocked, clinging to him, "I'll get you out of here, Aaron." he whispered. "I promise..."

"Ok, that's enough now."

Harris pulled Reid up by the hair, pulling him away from Aaron. Aaron slipped from his grasp as Reid was dragged away from him. He pushed Reid against the wall, holding him there with one hand and opened the cage. This was Reid's last chance. Any longer and Hotch would be dead, and he didn't expect to be left alive himself.

He twisted Harris's arm away and jumped onto his back. Harris was a powerful man, and Spencer was no match. He grabbed Harris's wrist, trying to make him drop the gun. Harris knelt down and rolled onto his back. Reid clung onto him, twisting at the gun in his hand.

When the gun fired, the bullet passed straight through Harris, and into Reid. The two men fell apart from each other. Reid staggered to his feet clutching his stomach, groaning as thick blood ran between his fingers. He looked at Harris. He was lying on his back, staring up with unseeing eyes. Reid picked up the gun and threw it to one side. He fell back down onto his knees and crawled back to Aaron.

"Aaron," he gasped, trying to lie as close as he could. "Aaron, I am going for help." He stopped and coughed onto the floor, spitting blood. "Aaron, do you understand what I'm saying? Aaron?"

Spencer held onto Aaron's bloody hands, and he felt a movement as Hotch tried to respond to Spencer's touch.

"Aaron, I'm not ...leaving you..." Spencer was struggling to stay conscious. Both their lives depended on it. "I'm going to come back for you..."

Aaron's grip intensified, and Reid had to pull Aaron's fingers away from his hand. He touched his face gently. "I will be coming back."

Clutching at his stomach, Reid staggered back to Harris, and rolled him over. He pulled Harris's coat off him, and crawled back to Aaron, and covered him with it. He was still lying in water, but Reid couldn't move him.

"Just stay, Aaron. I'm going for help."

He dragged himself to the stairs and turning, he sat at the bottom and leaned back. Both hands on the hole in his stomach, tears fell from his eyes as he passed out.


	6. Escape Routes

Chapter 6

Escape Routes

"_**Child abuse casts a shadow the length of a lifetime." - Herbert Ward  
**_

Morgan sat alone in the office trying to get inside the head of Steven Harris.

He was exhibiting Anger Retaliatory Behaviour, choosing his victims to punish in place of his parents who allegedly abused him as a child.

Morgan needed to think how he would think...Where he would take his victims now.

Garcia had found out all there was to know about the building where the six bodies were found. Ten years previously, it had been the home of Harris's paternal uncle, where little Steven Harris had stayed sometimes in the school holidays while his parents worked.

The uncle, George Harris was now living in Hale Street, Ansley, about twenty miles south east on the 92. Morgan and Emily drove out to see him.

He was the eldest brother of Harris's father, now in his late fifties. He was happy to talk about his nephew. His home was a set of rooms in a large colonial house in a part of town that was in the process of gentrification. He invited the two agents in and offered them coffee, which they gladly accepted.

"Stevie often used to stay with me in the little house in Broken Bow in the holidays." he said. "He always wanted to stay the night. I could never understand why. He had so much at home, and there was nothing at my place for him." He sighed. "Until of course the charges were brought. Then I understood."

"How was his behaviour after the accident?" Emily leaned forward, hands around the mug of coffee.

"He changed totally." George said. "I think he kind of blamed himself for what happened. What ever they were doing to him, they were still his parents. He didn't come and stay much after that."

"When did you last see him?" Morgan asked.

"Oh I can't remember exactly." He thought for a moment. "It was shortly after Janny, his wife, left. He was furious, punching walls and kicking doors. I had to ask him to leave."

On the drive back, Emily said, "He chose a place for the bodies that made him feel safe. He liked to stay at George Harris's house, because he was away from his parents."

"So when that building was destroyed in the tornado," Morgan said, "He may have chosen another place where he felt safe."

Emily speed dialled Garcia. "Hey, Pen. Can you get a list up of buildings that are associated with Steven Harris's past; schools, work places, holiday places, churches..." she said. "We think Hotch and Reid might be being held in a place from his past. We are looking for somewhere he felt safe."

"On it, Em. I'll call you."

"This could be it." Morgan said. "The longest he kept anyone alive for was six days. Time is running out. This has to be the lead we need."

Morgan was driving too fast. Emily didn't say anything.

-0-0-0-

Rossi was discussing the option of using dogs in the search. The canine unit had been brought in to find any tornado victims who might have been trapped in the fallen buildings. Now that work was done, they were preparing to return to their respective police departments. Rossi hoped that they would stay to try to find their missing agents.

Although it wasn't the norm, the handlers agreed that if they needed to search a building, they would bring the dogs in. On his drive back to the school, Rossi's phone rang.

Emily gave him an update. "Garcia's working on a list now. I'm waiting for her to get back."

Rossi felt a slight rise in optimism, the first since they had arrived in Nebraska, and certainly the first since Aaron had been kidnapped. He felt sick as he went over in his mind what the other victims had been through, and the photograph that Harris had given them. There was a less than even chance that Hotch would survive this.

He arrived back at the same time as Morgan and Emily. As they got out of their cars, Emily's mobile rang.

"What have you got, Pen?"

"I have found a few locations that might have had a strong influence on Harris's past. I have listed them, with what the places were at the time, why they would have been significant, and whether they were 'safe' places or not." she said. "You should be getting the list about...now."

Right on cue, Morgan and Rossi's phones rang, as the list was sent to them.

"Thanks, Pen. I'll call you later."

She cut the connection and opened the file. When they were in the office, they downloaded the list and looked at the screen together.

"Eight places." Rossi said."Three marked 'safe'. We'll take one each, and take a canine unit cop with you."

-0-0-0-

Emily stood outside the little school at the edge of town. Like the building they were working from, it had mostly survived the destruction. Part of the back of the school was flattened, but the main part of the building was intact.

"I'll send Caesar in." the cop said, affectionately ruffling the dog's head. He crouched down next to the dog. "Go find, Caesar. Go find!"

The dog went bounding up to the door, sniffing and investigating. The handler watched closely. They followed the dog around the school for three quarters of an hour.

"I'm sorry, Agent Prentiss. There's nothing here. Caesar would have found anyone trapped by now."

"Would he be able to find...erm...find bodies?" Emily didn't want to even think about them being too late. Putting it into words scared her, seemed to make it more likely somehow. Emily was a scientist. She didn't believe in all that tempting fate rubbish. But still, she wished she hadn't said it as soon as the words left her lips.

The handler understood. "Yes, he can." He brushed his hand on her arm briefly. "Don't worry, Agent. We'll find them."

Emily called the others to tell them she'd struck out.

-0-0-0-

Dave wasn't doing much better. He was at a farm outside town that used to be owned by Harris's maternal grandparents. Now a family with two young children lived there. They gave permission for Dave and the dog handler to search the out buildings. The husband, John, accompanied them.

"I haven't seen anyone hanging around here." he said. "But then I am out a lot, and if he moves around at night I wouldn't see him anyway."

Most of the out buildings were wooden constructions, and Dave thought they would not be sturdy enough to hold two FBI Agents for long. He searched them anyway, feeling that it was a waste of time, while his two colleagues were in a perilous situation.

"There is another building, right over the other side of the farm." John said. "I haven't used it myself, so I have no idea if it's what you are looking for. It was used for brewing years ago."

"Show us, please." Rossi said, and the three of them walked in the fading light across the fields.

-0-0-0-

Morgan was really annoyed. The factory that was his assignment had been hit by the storm, and the man in charge of the clean-up detail was a jobsworth to end all jobsworths.

"I'm sorry. I cannot let you in the building." he said, getting bolshy, which was not a clever thing to get when dealing with Agent Morgan. "I have been given orders not to allow anyone into the building for reasons of safety."

Morgan firmly pushed him to one side. "We are here to search for two FBI agents, probably injured, possibly dead. You will let us past."

The security guard put his hand on Morgan's arm. Morgan froze, so wanting to hit him. Instead, he gave him a look that could melt granite.

"Remove your hand or I will arrest you for assault and obstruction." he said quietly. Wisely, the guard dropped his hand.

"I insist that you wear hard hats." he said, determined to get the last word, passing one to Morgan and one to the dog handler. Morgan snatched the hat out of his hand, and marched into the building, shining his flashlight, pointing his gun. When he was out of visual range of the idiot on the door, he put on the hat.

-0-0-0-

It was quite dark by the time Rossi and his partner, together with John, reached the brewery. The tornado had missed the building itself, but had taken out some wooden storage shelters along the sides. Rossi had seen this before, but it always amazed him how one building could be flattened, while one adjacent could be completely untouched. He turned to John.

"I would like you to remain here." he said. "It could be dangerous. Please stand back." He pointed to a pile of wood that had once been a little shed. "Wait behind there."

John obediently, albeit reluctantly, went and stood where he was told. Rossi kicked open the metal door and shone his flashlight inside. The handler released the dog.

Gun aimed, Rossi followed the animal into the dark interior. The dog was getting excited. He ran to another metal door at the end of the long corridor that they found themselves in.

"There's something in there." the handler said.

"Stay behind me."Rossi said. "Hold the dog back."

Rossi crept silently to the door. Flinging it open, he shouted, "FBI!" and shone his flashlight down the stairs on the other side.

What he saw made his stomach churn. He turned to the handler. "Call for backup, and an ambulance." was all he said.


	7. Fight for Life

Chapter 7  
Fight for Life

"_**Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily." - Napoleon Bonaparte **_

At first all Rossi could see was blood. The flashlight caught it, deep red, bright scarlet, all over the floor, thick dark stains in the dirty water. Slowly Rossi reached out and felt for a light switch, and the room was bathed in a feeble yellow light.

He saw Reid at the foot of the stairs, both hands on his bloody stomach, sitting with his head back on the steps with his eyes closed. He was breathing heavily; Rossi could hear each rasping breath. He ran down the steps to him.

"Reid, the ambulance is on its way. I don't know if you can hear me, but you are going to be ok now. Just hold on; stay with me."

Reid's eyelashes fluttered as he struggled to open his eyes and look at Rossi. He wanted to tell him about Aaron. Rossi lifted Reid's head and put his jacket behind him. He wiped sweat from his face.

"It's Dave, Reid. I'm here." Rossi called the handler to join him.

"Stay with him please. His name's Spencer Reid. I need to see if there's anyone else here."

"I'm going to look round, Spencer. Pete is going to stay with you for a moment."

Reid breathed a soft sound as Rossi let go of his hand and shone his flashlight around the cellar. He saw Harris in the middle of the floor. He was obviously dead. His eyes were open and staring and they had the misted over look that only dead eyes have.

Then he saw something else. At first he didn't realise what it was, only that there was so much blood. He saw a hand stretched out, palm up, and dark hair floating in the blood stained water. He splashed across the room, and knelt down.

Gently he lifted the coat away.

_Oh my god...Aaron...oh god!_

Dave turned Hotch's head so that his face was clear of the water, and tried to find a pulse. His skin was cold and smeared with blood. He had been seriously beaten, and Rossi thought raped. He was still bleeding.

He wrapped the coat around him and lifted him out of the water. He felt tears fall from his eyes as he carried him to a table at the side of the room. Gently he laid him down. Dave removed his shirt and used it to wipe Aaron's face. It seemed that every part of the man's body had been injured, and as he tenderly wiped blood and dirt from his face, he spoke words of comfort to him. He looked across to Reid, and thought about moving him also, but his stomach wound was serious, and he wasn't in any danger from drowning.

"How's he doing?" he called across to Pete, who was holding Reid in his arms, head cradled against his chest.

"He's breathing, Sir. But the ambulance had better hurry."

Rossi turned back to Hotch. He still hadn't moved. Rossi took his hands.

"Aaron, it's me, Dave. If you can hear me, squeeze my hand."

There was nothing, but Rossi thought he moved his head away.

"Hotch. It's ok now. You are going to be ok."

To Rossi's distress, Aaron began to cry silent tears. Rossi lifted him up and hugged him, pressing him against his chest, lovingly holding the back of his head, feeling the deep tear in his scalp.

"I'm here for you, Hotch. I won't leave you. You won't need to face this on your own." He spoke quietly, caringly, to him so that no-one else would hear. "I will be beside you at every step of the way."

Rossi couldn't stop his own tears as he felt Aaron's beaten fragile body shake with misery and grief. Rossi's heart ached for him.

He looked across at Reid again. Pete was rocking Spencer in his arms and talking to him.

_Where is that goddamn ambulance!_

-0-0-0-

Morgan was out of the car almost before it stopped. He saw the open door with the dog sitting outside. John came over to Morgan.

"They've gone in there." he said. "I've called the ambulance."

"Good man." Morgan said. "As soon as they get here, send them down."

Morgan took the steps two at a time, and sat the other side of Spencer, and Pete relinquished Reid to him. As Morgan put his arms around him, Reid opened his eyes and looked at him.

"Hotch..."

Morgan looked around the cellar.

"It's ok, Kid. Dave's with him.

"Shot...myself..." he said softly.

"Guess you should have kept the whistle!" Morgan said, trying not to cry. He made eye contact with Rossi. "Is he ok?"

Rossi shook his head. "It's bad." He mouthed the words. Morgan could see Rossi was crying. "UnSub's dead." he said out loud. "I think Reid killed him. A through and through."

They heard the siren in the distance.

-0-0-0-

Morgan rode in the ambulance with Spencer. He had slipped into unconsciousness before the medics arrived. Morgan was still holding him as the medics rushed to his side. They called ahead to the surgical team to have theatre ready. He was intubated, and IV set up ready for antibiotics.

"Is he going to be ok?" Morgan wanted to know. His voice was shaky.

"The danger with this type of injury is peritonitis." the medic said as he inserted a second IV. "The full extent of the injury won't be known until they open him up." he paused and looked at Morgan. "Stomach trauma is very serious." he said softly.

Morgan blinked back tears and said a silent prayer for the lives of his colleagues who had become very close friends.

He looked at Spencer, lying still and pale. He gently stroked his hair back, and touched his cheek with the back of his hand. As the ambulance rushed through the dark streets, Morgan thought of how different the BAU was with Reid. Somehow his personality lifted the mood. People liked him. He had to make it. It would be a lonely place without him. Morgan didn't realise he was crying until a tear fell onto their clasped hands.

-0-0-0-

Dave rode with Aaron. He wasn't even sure the man was alive as they carried him up the stairs into the second ambulance. Quickly they set up a wide diameter IV and administered hypertonic saline. He was in danger of circulatory collapse, and hypovolaemic shock.

"We can't tell you if he has passed the transition from reversible hypovolemia to circulatory collapse. If he hasn't then he has a chance." the medic explained to Rossi. "His reflexes are mostly intact, but he is bradycardic. That is one of the signs of circulatory collapse." He put a hand on Rossi's arm. "If you have a god, now is a good time to talk to him."

Rossi sat by Hotch in the ambulance. He held his hand in both his, and hung his head and prayed.

When Hotch went into V-Fib and needed resuscitation, Dave stood at the back of the ambulance and cried silently. He hadn't been with the team for long, indeed he was the newest member, but he and Aaron were close, and they had recently shared some deep personal conversations. Rossi had renewed his acquaintance with him from when he had been working at the BAU before. He was not an acquaintance any more. He was a friend

He hurt deep inside as he stood and watched the medics fight for his life.

As the medics applied the defibrillator, it was as if the film was playing in slow motion; Aaron's back arched under the paddles as the shock passed through his heart. Again, Aaron body jerked up from the table. It seemed to take forever before the reassuring sound of the heart monitor could be heard. They gave him dronedarone to try and stabilise him until they reached the ER.

_Aaron, you got through it this time. Just don't give up..._

Rossi thought that the emotional trauma was going tom be the hardest for him to cope with. He prayed that he would allow him to be there through the awful time that he knew Hotch now had to face.

When he was finally stabilised, Rossi returned to his place by his side. He took up Aaron's hands again. He noticed that he too was covered in Aaron's blood. The medics gently removed some blood that was drying on Aaron's skin so that they could clip together the worst of the wounds.

The bleeding needed to be stopped or he would bleed out right there in the ambulance.

Dave turned his back and cried into bloody hands.


	8. Waiting

Chapter 8

Waiting

"_**Short of homicide, rape is the ultimate violation."**__** - **__** Byron R. White**_

It was a long quiet vigil. Morgan, Dave and Emily sat in the relatives' room, each engulfed in their own fears and prayers. Emily arrived at the hospital just before the ambulance, and was pacing the floor waiting for them.

There was nothing to say. Emily cried unashamedly when Dave told her just how bad it was. After a couple of hours, all three sat, faces tear stained and eyes red. No-one had come in and given them any news. It was tearing them apart knowing that the lives of their friends were hanging in the balance, and there was nothing they could do but wait.

When the door opened at last, Dave stood up and stepped forward.

"Are you for Aaron Hotchner?"

Dave nodded his head, afraid to speak. His fear was showing in the shaking of his hands. He glanced down at them, and clasped them in front of him. They were still covered with Aaron's blood. Somehow, he didn't want to wash it off.

"We are." he said.

"He's pulled through the surgery to repair the damage. His internal injuries were the worst I've ever treated on a patient that survived. He lost so much blood, he shouldn't have made it. But he did. We had to cut a tracheotomy because we couldn't get the tube in. There is a lot of swelling in his throat. Has he had a throat injury before?"

Rossi nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"That old injury, together with the pressure of the collar, has damaged his throat, but it's not permanent."

"When can we see him?" Rossi asked. Morgan leaned his head down and pressed the heels of his hands in his eyes. Emily began to cry again.

"You can come through now." he said. "He is deeply sedated, but he may be able to hear you. Before we go I have to tell you that he looks bad. Don't be alarmed."

They followed him through the hospital corridors toward where Hotch was lying. Rossi hadn't told the others the full extent of what Harris had done to him. He was afraid that the trauma could be too much for Aaron. He didn't know how he would cope himself, and he was so afraid for his friend. Thinking about it brought tears back to eyes that he thought were past crying.

The doctor stopped outside a ward in the High Dependency Unit.

"You ready?"

"Yes." Rossi said, not really sure that he was.

Hotch was lying on the bed covered in a sheet, his chest uncovered. Rossi knew what to expect; he had seen Aaron before the ambulance had arrived, but the other two hadn't. Emily's hand went to her mouth in shock.

"Oh my god!"

Morgan put his arm around her, but he couldn't speak.

Aaron's skin was cut to pieces; clips were holding his flesh together in rows across his chest. His head and legs were bandaged, and blood leaked from the wounds and stained the white sheets. His arms were strapped to boards and IV's entered his elbows and wrists. His dark eyes were taped shut and the tube in the front of his neck breathed for him. The metal collar and bands at his wrists and ankles had been removed, but his skin was torn and raw where they had been, and the collar on his neck had opened the scar from before.

Rossi recovered first. He went to him and sat by him.

"Aaron, if you can hear me, know that we are all here for you, and one of us will be here all the time, until you don't need us any more." Again, Rossi held his hand, love and compassion for this man overflowing. "I will bring you some music, and we will read to you. Just get strong and well."

Rossi stood back and Morgan took his place. "We all need you, Boss-man, so we'll be waiting for you."

Emily didn't say anything. She leaned down and kissed his forehead, gently touched his face, then left the room before she was overcome.

Rossi said, "I'll stay."

Morgan went outside with Emily

"That was a real sweet thing you just did." Morgan said to her. She looked up at him from where she was sitting with her face in her hands.

"I couldn't speak, Derek. I didn't want Hotch to hear me crying." she sobbed.

Morgan sat beside her and putting his arm around her, drew her to him.

"He's a tough guy, Em. He'll make it..."

-0-0-0-

"Are you waiting for news on Spencer Reid?"

The doctor broke into the reverie that Emily and Morgan had slipped into. They both looked up at once.

"Yes. And Agent Rossi too." Morgan said. "He's in there." Morgan pointed to the door into Hotch's room. "We should all hear at the same time."

The doctor nodded, understanding. Emily and Morgan stood up and followed him back in with Rossi and Hotch. The three of them looked up expectantly.

"He's out of surgery, in recovery. Very soon he will be brought down here in HDU. There was a lot of damage, which we have managed to repair. The stomach wound was bad, there was liver damage, and a kidney was torn. But we were able to save it. He's got stitches under his chin, and across his shoulder. The biggest fear now is peritonitis. He is on strong antibiotics, but in cases like this, it's a matter of wait and see." He went to the door and looked out as a bed was wheeled past into the next room. "That's him now. You can go in when you wish. He's not sedated, but he may not wake up for an hour or so, as the anaesthetic wears off."

Rossi said thank you, and the doctor left. Rossi turned to Morgan. "You go and check on Reid, then one of you come back so that I can." He looked down at Aaron. "I promised Hotch that he wouldn't be left alone."

When the door closed, and Dave and Aaron were alone, Rossi took Aaron's hand in his.

"Aaron, don't be afraid to come back." He held his hand tighter, as if to emphasise the words. "I know what he did to you, but none of the others do. I will help you and support you and be there for you for as long as you need me. So please don't be afraid." He could feel himself filling with tears again, imagining how vulnerable and weak Aaron would feel, and how humiliated. Rossi rested his other hand on Aaron's arm.

The door opened and Emily came in. "Reid is asleep." She smiled through her tears. "I'll stay with Hotch now if you want to go and say hello to Reid."

Dave got up and Emily sat in his seat. "Don't leave him, will you?"

Emily held Hotch's hand. "Of course I won't. " she said, touching his face.

Reid was as pale as the sheets that covered him. Morgan was brushing his hair when Rossi came in. He looked at Morgan questioningly.

"I've been wanting to do this far ages." he said, a slight smile on his face. He stepped back for Rossi to talk to him.

"Hello Reid, it's Dave. I just want you to know that Hotch is doing ok, and he is in the next room." Rossi said. "When you wake up, you will be able to see him."

He rested Spencer's hand back on the bed. "I'm going back to sit with Hotch. Do you want coffee first?"

"Please, Dave."

Rossi went to get coffee for himself and the other two. As he stood and watched the cups fill, he heard a voice behind him. It was Aaron's surgeon.

"It's Dave Rossi, isn't it?" He held his hand out to shake. Rossi inclined his head and shook hands.

"I wanted to ask you if you were aware of what has happened to Mr. Hotchner."

"I think so." he answered.

"Would you come with me to my office? I need to explain some things to you."

Dave left the coffee where it was and followed the doctor into his office.

-0-0-0-

_How could anyone do that to another human being?_

Later as Rossi sat by the bed where Aaron slept, his mind played images of what the doctor had said. While Hotch was being put back together, they had had to remove shards of glass that had been forced into him and the attack had resulted in severe trauma. Rossi didn't want to have these images in front of him, but now he knew the extent of the attack, maybe he was in a better position to help.

He had also been told that Aaron might never wake up. Sometimes the emotional trauma was too much, and the victim hides away in a coma rather than wake up and face what had happened to them.

"But you will wake up, Hotch. You have to. You aren't one to give up. We need you. And there is a little boy who needs you too."

Rossi reached across the bed and held both Aaron's hands, and he rested his head on the bed and slept a nightmare filled sleep where evil stalked.


	9. Awakening

Chapter 9

Awakening

_**Edgar Allan Poe wrote, "To be thoroughly conversant with a man's heart, is to take our final lesson in the iron-clasped volume of despair."**_

_**  
**_Morgan had called Garcia to tell her that Hotch and Reid were in hospital, and she got on the next plane. Kevin had insisted on coming with her. JJ had called Will, and he was adamant that he was going to take some leave and come up to meet her. They met up at the Hotel. Rossi had left a message for one of them to go to his room and collect a certain CD and player. JJ had it in her bag, and together they travelled to the hospital. By the time they arrived, both men were out of theatre.

They called in to see Hotch first, but the room was in darkness, and Dave was asleep with his head on Aaron's bed. Garcia had tears in her eyes, Will held JJ a little tighter. Garcia gripped Kev's hand. She leaned over and touched Aaron.

"Hey Boss. "she said softly. "We're all here, and we're all waiting. Don't be long."

Dave woke and looked up with bleary eyes.

"How is he?" JJ asked.

Dave briefly explained that Aaron was sedated, because he would be in too much pain if he was awake.

"He'll heal better if he's sleeping. But he can probably hear you." Rossi turned to the still form on the bed.

"Aaron, the whole team is here." JJ gave him the CD and player. Dave put it on the table and switched it on. Avalon played and injected calmness into the atmosphere. "I hope you like Roxy Music, Aaron." he said, taking up his hand again. "I have a feeling that you do."

"We're taking it in turns in sitting with Hotch and Reid. I don't want them to wake up alone. It could be a long time before Hotch wakes up. Do you want to...?"

Garcia and JJ both agreed. Rossi said, "Emily is at the hotel resting. Maybe when you've visited Reid, you could go and sleep and come back later."

Rossi turned back to Aaron, and the two couples left to go and see Spencer

-0-0-0-

Spence was still sleeping, and Morgan was folded uncomfortably in a chair beside him. Rather than wake them, they decided to go back to the hotel and rest. They stopped to eat on the way. JJ and Garcia were in shock. They started telling the men about things that had happened at work, and pretty soon they were laughing.

"JJ, do you remember 'physics magic'?"

"That was so funny! The rocket landed at Hotch's feet. " JJ laughed. "Poor Spence looked so embarrassed!"

"And Hotch pretended to be all cross, but did you see the grin he had on his face?"

"That was priceless!" JJ said.

"And at his birthday party when he was trying to blow the trick candles out! You told him they were trick candles!"

"I had to! He was going a funny colour!"

"I would have liked to have seen that." Will drawled.

To anyone watching, it was just two couples having a laugh and a meal together. No-one could have seen that it was all a front. A cover for the fear they had inside of losing someone so close.

It was laugh or cry.

-0-0-0-

Spencer began to notice things a few hours later, the first thing being the worst gut ache he'd ever experienced. His groan of pain woke Morgan who was sleeping in a hard vinyl covered 'E-Z Cleen' chair next to his bed. Morgan had been holding Reid's hand when he had dozed off, but they had slipped apart. It took Morgan a second or two to remember where he was, and why he ached from head to foot, and why he was sleeping in this god-awful chair. Then he remembered.

"Reid!"

Spencer summoned up his strength and slowly opened his eyes. Morgan smiled broadly.

"So you decided to wake up!"

A flicker of a smile crossed Reid's lips, but it didn't last long.

"Hotch...?" he croaked painfully.

"He's next door, Kiddo. Dave's with him."

"He's ok?" Reid started to cough, his hands on his stomach. He curled forwards to try to relieve the pain. "Oh god..."

Morgan put a little water in a cup, and Reid sipped it. "Very slow, only take a little."

The coughing stopped, and Morgan took the cup away.

"Is Hotch ok?" he asked again, speaking slowly and carefully.

"He's in pretty bad shape, Kid." Morgan said reaching out to take Reid's hand. "The doc doesn't know if he'll make it."

"I saw what happened. I saw the mess they made of him, flogging him." he started to cry. "I couldn't help him. I was there to help, and I made it worse."

He put his hands to his face, almost as if he could hide his tears behind them. "I wasn't quick enough. I let the UnSub take me as well." He looked up at Morgan."I'm pathetic. I am going to put in my notice. I can't work for the BAU anymore. I should have worked it out sooner, Derek. If we lo...if Hotch...oh god, I can't even say it..." He turned his head away from Morgan, ashamed and wretched, sobs shaking his body, hands clutching his stomach.

"Reid, you can't blame yourself. None of us worked it out either. The only person who carries responsibility for this is Harris, and you gave Hotch a chance when you killed him. Harris had no intention of freeing Hotch. You know he was just another stand in for his parents. He was torturing his victims to death. If you hadn't killed Harris, he would have killed Hotch." Morgan paused. "Hey, Reid, are you listening to me?"

Spencer slowly turned round to face Morgan. "I need to see him, tell him I'm so sorry."

"You won't be going anywhere for a while. You've just had major, and I might add, life saving surgery. You need to rest."

Spencer's huge hazel eyes implored Morgan.

"Do you want me to go and get an update?"

Reid gave his head a little nod, and Morgan got up to go next door.

-0-0-0-

_Aaron was floating in a black mist, it felt like a velvet shroud, absorbing his life slowly and keeping him safe from wicked hands that wanted to hurt him...the black softness enveloped him and he wanted to stay safe...there was no pain, only memories of pain...but the memories hurt, the agonies began inside him and radiated out in brittle bladed waves and became lost in the blackness... he watched his life slipping through his hands like soft dry sand and he knew he should save it but the fear of living was greater than the fear of dying...  
...something touching him, touching his eyes...violating him in his solitary world..  
... screaming soundlessly fighting and yet unmoving... _

_-0-0-0-_

"Do you have to do this?" Rossi asked. He could see tears in Aaron's eyes behind the tape. "You are distressing him. Please, leave him."

Dave could see the distress on Aaron's face as the nurse took his OBs and checked the wounds, and Aaron's distress was his own.

"I'm sorry. I will be as quick as I can. I don't like doing this either." she said. "I am going to remove the tape from his eyes. He might become upset, but it is a step forward for him."

Dave watched as she carefully removed the tape. But his eyes didn't open.

When she had gone, Dave longed to hold him, wanted to make him feel safe to come back. The doctors had stopped the sedation now that the bleeding had finally stopped. He was still in danger of heart failure, but his blood volume was up, and he was being given Erythropoietin to bring up his haemoglobin.

But he hadn't woken up, or shown any signs that he was 'still there'.

Dave sat on the bed and stroked Aaron's face.

"When you are ready to come back, Aaron, I will be here. Don't be afraid. Nothing here will hurt you. Just open your eyes and come home to us."

He wiped Aaron's tears away with a tissue, and then his own.


	10. A Bad Night and a Little Help

**A/N Did anyone notice the reference to 'Avalon' in the last chapter? It was the music that Danny Nyland played to the coma woman in episode 3x20 of Chicago Hope – Positive ID's – the Epi after the car crash (Oops there goes the tommytummy again!! LOL) I thought that if he chose it for someone else, maybe he would like it too.**

Chapter 10

A Bad Night and a Little Help

_**Francis Bacon wrote, 'What then remains, but that we still should cry, not to be born, but being born, to die.' **_

"What's the latest?" Morgan stood at the door, his eyes on Hotch. He looked so peaceful, as if he was asleep. But cast your eyes down just a little, and there was the tracheotomy cut into his neck, and the stitches and blood and the ripped chest rising and falling with the machine in the corner.

Dave tore his gaze from Aaron and looked across to Morgan.

"They've stopped sedating him, and untaped his eyes. He could wake up now." he said. "It could be in the next few minutes, it could be years." He looked back at his friend. "Or never."

"Reid wants to know."

"Tell him he's off sedatives, and we're waiting for him to wake up."

Morgan turned to leave. "Morgan?"

He turned back at the door.

"Has anyone told Sean?"

"Oh no, I don't think so. He's got Jack hasn't he?"

"Yes." Rossi passed him Aaron's phone. "The number's on there. Could you call him?"

"Sure." said Morgan, looking down at the phone. "There's a missed reminder on here." Morgan called up the message, and blinked back tears.

"What is it?"

"He'd put a reminder on the phone to call Jack." He looked back Aaron. "Why has that upset me so much?"

He left the ward and went outside to call Sean.

-0-0-0-

Morgan hadn't come back. Spencer desperately needed to see Aaron.

It was only next door.

He threw back the cover and carefully turned so that his feet were over the edge of the bed.

_I'm coming to see you, Hotch. ..._

Only next door? The end of the bed seemed like miles away!

He inched forwards so that he was right at the edge, and lowered himself onto the floor.

Straightening out was agony. The pain in his abdomen doubled him over and he groaned as he clutched his stomach.

"Oh god..." he said softly.

With one hand he leaned on the bed and shuffled forwards a few feet. When he reached the end on the bed, he leaned his body face down on the bed and rested. The next part of the journey had nothing to hold onto.

He straightened a little, and took a tentative step away from the security of the bed, and reached one hand out to the door. He could just reach it with the tips of his fingers. He lurched towards it, tears of pain running down his pale cheeks as he hung onto the door.

He opened the door and steadied himself against the frame.

Taking a step out of his room into the corridor was frightening. There was nothing to hold onto, and the floor looked slippery. But he did it anyway.

Leaning on the wall, one hand on the wall, the other on his stomach, Reid slowly began the long walk. As he reached Aaron's door, though, a sudden shot of pain around his waist and hips forced him to bend forwards, and with a whimper of agony, Reid fainted within touching distance of his goal.

-0-0-0-

Sean wanted to come straight there, but Morgan said not to.

"Please, if you can, just hang on to Jack for a while longer. I'll call you every day to let you know if there's any change." Morgan could hear Sean crying on the other end of the phone, and beyond that, sounds of a child playing. "Jack is comfortable with you; it's what Aaron would want."

Sean agreed under protest, and Morgan promised to call him the next day.

Slipping the phone back in his pocket, he walked slowly back up the corridor to the HDU.

He turned the corner in time to see Reid slide down the wall onto the floor outside Aaron's room. He broke into a run. Kneeling beside him, he carefully turned him onto his back.

He was breathing, just out cold.

"What the hell do you think you are playing at?" he said to the unconscious Reid. "I leave you for five minutes and look!"

There was blood soaked through his hospital issue PJ's. Sighing, Morgan slipped his hands under Reid's way too thin body, and picked him up. He wasn't quite sure where to take him. He ought to be back in bed, but if he didn't see Hotch, chances were that he'd try this again. But he was bleeding.

Morgan carried him back to his own room and laid him down on the bed. Then he pressed the call button. "You're going to get me into trouble!" he said, gently brushing Reid's hair to one side.

-0-0-0-

The nurse came in and checked Reid's dressing. The wound had pulled, but the stitches were intact, and she redressed it. Reid came round, and she threatened to sedate him if he pulled another stunt like that. Spencer laid back and closed his eyes.

"I need to see him. I want to talk to him." he said quietly.

Morgan shook his head resignedly. "Not yet. You will end up with more damage. You were lucky this time. Maybe you won't be so lucky next time."

"You call this lucky?" Spencer said.

"Well, you're both alive. I'd say so."

-0-0-0-

The rest of the team came back to the hospital that evening. JJ and Will sat with Reid. Rossi refused point blank to leave, happy to sleep with his head on Aaron's bed. He was reading an article about the Sargasso Sea out loud to Hotch out of a copy of National Geographic.

Will had brought in a Mah-Jong set, and he, JJ and Reid played a few games in which Spencer thrashed them. Emily, Garcia and Kevin were on coffee and snack patrol. When Reid eventually went to sleep, they went down to the patients' lounge, and chatted and drank coffee, and hoped that there were no serial killers who needed chasing up. Late that night, JJ and Will left, and said they would return tomorrow with Morgan.

Spencer didn't have a good night. His dreams were filled with images of what he saw in that damp cellar, images of torture and rape, of blood and screams. He woke suddenly and alone with a frightened cry, bathed in sweat and terrified. The night nurse heard him, and she and Emily arrived together. He was offered Mogadon, which he refused.

"I am so sorry." Emily said. "I stay with you now."

"It's ok, Em. You don't need to."

"I know that. I want to."

He soon was asleep again, and Emily spent the rest of the night by his side. He was quiet, maybe a subconscious knowledge that he wasn't alone any more.

-0-0-0-

The rest of the night was uneventful. Morgan, Will and JJ came back at nine the next morning, and relieved Emily, Garcia and Kevin. Dave had spent another night in the chair and was starting to look crumpled. He went for a shower, and felt slightly refreshed. When he returned to Aaron's room, there was a small packet in a padded envelope by his bed, addressed to Mr. A Hotchner. Out of habit, Rossi picked it up, and felt it, trying to identify the contents.

It seemed to be a cassette. He opened the envelope and tipped the contents onto the bed.

As well as the cassette, there was a short note. It was addressed to Aaron. Dave wasn't sure if he should read it. But it could be a while before Aaron could.

"Aaron, you have had a letter. I'm going to read it to you.

"_Aaron, I wanted to come up and see you, Bro, but I thought it was better if I took some days off and cared for Jack until you are on your feet again._

Rossi glanced at Aaron at this point. What would happen to Jack if his Dad didn't recover? He went back to the note.

"_I understand that when people are unconscious, they can often hear whet's going on around them. So Jack and I made this tape for you, and I hope it helps you recover quicker. I have to stop writing now as I'm sending this by courier, and I think he's at the door now. I'll be thinking of you,  
From Sean, with love" _

Rossi switched off the CD, and opened the cassette player on the front of his machine. He slipped the Cassette in and pressed play.

The sound of Jack's voice filled the room.

Rossi took Aaron's hand again. Maybe this would work.

_Come home, Aaron...a little boy needs you!_


	11. Home is Where the Heart Beats

Chapter 11

Home is Where the Heart Beats

_**Midge Ure sang, 'Don't go! You can't deny you hear the call...'**_

Rossi watched Aaron as the tape played. There didn't seem to be any response, but if Aaron could hear the sound of his little boy's voice, it could work.

Rossi slumped into the chair and rested his face in his hands. He listened to the tape through with Hotch, wondering what was going on in his mind.

Morgan called in to see if there was any change. Rossi shook his head.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. He hasn't responded to the tape."

"Maybe he's hearing it though." Morgan said, trying to inject some optimism. Though looking at Aaron, there didn't seem much to be optimistic about.

Morgan sighed and turned away, making his way back to Reid's room. Rossi pulled the chair closer to the bed, and rested his forehead on the pillow. He was exhausted. But he had promised Aaron he wouldn't leave him alone. And Dave Rossi never broke a promise.

"Oh god, Aaron. You have to get through this." Without looking up, feeling overcome by sadness again, he placed his hand over Aaron's. "You are needed here. A lot of people love you. You are a good man, Aaron. We can't lose you." He wanted to say more but his voice was breaking up. He gently pushed Aaron's hair back off his face. He looked at his eyes, and carefully wiped his eyelashes.

"Come on, now. Look at me. You can do it. Open your eyes now, and look at me."

Aaron didn't move. His eyes remained closed. A tear ran from the corner of his eye and into his hair.

-0-0-0-

_Somewhere a long way away, he heard his son. Happy excited sounds of childlike innocence, in a world where rape and torture and death had no meaning...he sank down further into the velvet void that enshrouded his body...a body raped and tortured and left for dead.  
He could not allow these things to enter his child's world; he was no longer fit to be part of his life. He was filthy...degraded...unfit to live...  
Someone else was there calling him, asking him to open his eyes...  
How could he ever expose his soul, allow anyone to look into his eyes and see the depths of squalor and degradation he had been dragged into?  
His love for the voices turned him towards the void, and as he sank deeper, the voices faded..._

-0-0-0-

The sudden change from the rhythmic sound of the monitor to a single unwavering note and Dave took a second to register what was happening.

_Oh god...No!...Please, no Aaron!_

He let go of Aaron's hand and ran to the door.

"Help! For God's sake, I need help!"

The nurse ran from her station and glanced in the door. She pressed an alarm on the wall, and picked up the phone in the corridor.

"Crash team to HDU! Crash team to HDU!"

It seemed like minutes passed as Rossi stood outside Aaron's door, waiting for someone to help his friend, but it was probably only seconds before the crash cart and two doctors arrived at Hotch's side. JJ Will and Morgan came out of Reid's room.

Rossi was standing watching through the window, his hands clasped behind his head.

"I think he's gone." he said. "Oh god, I think he's gone." His voice choked and he clasped his arms around the side of his head rested his forehead on the window, crying in grief. JJ stood and stared at the drama before her, unable to take her eyes off the man whom she always thought of as her mentor, as the doctors fought against all odds to save him. Morgan and Will watched as the paddles were charged and applied to Aaron's ripped chest. They watched his back arch as the current passed through him. They watched as Adrenalin was injected into his IV. And they watched as they tried again...and again.

"Come on, Boss-Man. Come ON!" Morgan said under his breath.

They couldn't hear what was being said in Hotch's room. But it looked as if they were giving up. The doctors stood back from the bed. Morgan couldn't take it any more. He grabbed the door handle, and pushed the door open.

The doctor was calling TOD.

"No! Try again! He can't die, not now! Don't stop! Give it another try! Please. He has people who need him!"

He ran to the bed, pushing people out of the way. He took Aaron by the shoulders, lifting him off the bed, he shook him.

"Don't you die, dammit!" He looked up at the doctor opposite him. "Try again! Please!"

Aaron's head fell back, his eyelashes resting on his cheeks, droplets of tears forming on them.

"Look, he's crying. Please..." Morgan's adrenalin rush had slowed. He rested Aaron back down, and looked again at the doctor. "He's crying. He can't be dead."

The doctor said, "Charge three fifty!"

Morgan felt Dave's hands on his arm. "We'll wait outside, Derek." he said. "Come on."

As they left the room, they heard the Doctor say, "Clear.", and the creak of the bed, and the sound of Hotch's body fall back as his arched back relaxed.

They didn't hear the monitor change back to an intermittent rhythm as his unwilling heart began to beat again.

But they saw the looks on their friends' faces.

-0-0-0-

'_I don't want to come back...please don't make me'...he gripped at the velvet shroud as pain ripped through him...'Please, just leave me'...three times they hurt him, dragging him up through the void towards the voices...voices he didn't want to hear. Then when he thought they were going to let him drift away, when he was unprepared, hands held him, and then the pain again. He wanted to scream, 'leave me alone...you don't understand!' but he couldn't make a sound in the void...and he was back again where he didn't want to be, and he felt his heart pumping, and the machine filling his redundant lungs...and now they left him..._

-0-0-0-

"I had better get back to Reid before he goes walk about again." Morgan said after they watched Aaron through the window for a while.

Reid was sitting up and thinking about getting out of bed. He was frantic, screwing up the sheets in his hands, helpless and impotent.

"What happened? Was it Hotch? Is he ok? Please, tell me!" Reid stopped when Morgan raised his hand.

"It was touch and go there for a while. We lost him, but they got him back." Morgan was emotionally exhausted. He sat down and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, hands across his face. "Oh god that was close." He looked up. "Too close. It was almost as if he didn't want to come back. It took four charges."

"Maybe he doesn't want to come back." Reid said, remembering the frightened look in Aaron's dark eyes, begging him to look away as he was raped and abused, hearing his helpless screams, remembering the flogging, and blood and the terror. "I don't think I would want to if I had been through what he's been through."

_Morgan, you can't understand...you don't know_

-0-0-0-

"I'll go back and sit with him." Dave said, and he turned towards the door to Aaron's room, holding on for support. He was exhausted, the last few minutes had drained him, and he needed to sit down. Will reached out to steady him.

"Hey, Dave! Are you ok?" he drawled.

"Yeah, just tired, I guess."

"I'll get some coffee. I think we could all use some after this morning." JJ said.

"Thank you, ...uuh..." Dave never finished, as fatigue got the better of him, and with a soft groan, he collapsed against the wall. Will caught him before he hit the floor and carefully laid him down

-0-0-0-

"Morgan!" he called, hoping that he could hear him. "Morgan, I need some help here!"

Morgan came out of Reid's room and knelt next to Will.

"I could see this coming." he said. "He wouldn't leave Hotch. He's done too much."

Between them, they carried Dave in to Aaron's room and sat him in the chair. As they sat him down, he came round.

"Suppose I was more tired than I thought." Dave said with an embarrassed grin that actually looked more like a grimace.

"Go home, Dave. Get some proper sleep."

"I'll sleep here, Derek. I'll be fine."

A sound behind Morgan brought Dave to his feet. He was beside Aaron in a flash.

Aaron was trying to move.

"Aaron, Can you hear me?" he asked. "Open your eyes for me. Show me that you are awake." Dave took Aaron's hand, and squeezed it gently. "Aaron, can you respond to me?"

Very slowly, Aaron's fingers curled around Dave's hand. Morgan watched, a look of helpless joy on his face. He leaned forwards.

"Hotch, open your eyes for us, let us see your eyes."

They watched as Aaron's eyes moved behind their lids. His eyelashes fluttered against his cheeks, and gradually, bit by bit, his eyes opened. He moved his eyes from Rossi to Morgan.

"Do you know who we are?" Rossi asked, holding Aaron's hand with both of his.

Very shakily, Aaron nodded.

He was trying to speak to them, distress showing in those eyes as he found that he wasn't able to.

Morgan gently put a finger on Aaron's lips. "You won't be able to speak yet, Hotch. You have got a tracheotomy, but that's only temporary because your throat is swollen."

Aaron's lips formed the word 'Reid'

"Reid's fine, worrying about you."

Aaron's eyes filled with tears again, and slowly and painfully he turned away and faced the wall.

_Please, if you care anything for me, leave me. Please don't touch me...please leave me alone and don't come back ... and I beg you, don't bring Jacky-Boy in to me...I'm not fit to be his father...he deserves so much more than I can give him now...he needs someone whole and undamaged...not degraded and dirty..._

But all these words he could not say, so he cried in shame and humiliation, and wished he could have died.


	12. Words of Love

Chapter 12

Words of Love

'_**There exists companions disposed to break one another to pieces, but there exists a friend sticking closer than a brother.' Proverbs chapter 18 verse 24**_

Aaron was checked regularly since he had flatlined. Not that looking in on him every thirty minutes would save him if he flatlined on the thirty first minute. But it was all they could do. There was a monitor of his vital signs at the nurses' station, but it wasn't always manned.

The staff had noticed that Aaron Hotchner was rarely left alone. This is what would save him; his friends

But now the doctor needed to check that Aaron's injuries were healing.

Aaron watched the doctor approach him with frightened eyes.

"I am going to turn you onto your side, and check that everything is fine." he said. He gently rolled Aaron onto his side.

Aaron froze with fear. As the hands touched him he tried to pull away as he was again violated. The pain and fear would have made him scream if he were able to make a sound. His mind couldn't take it.

_Not again...oh no not again..._

Hotch's mind felt the terror again. He was back in the cellar, lying in his own clotting blood and filth, feeling the agony and humiliation of the torture and rape and the tearing apart of his reason and his back arched and his limbs shook on the bed and he convulsed.

Carefully the doctor laid him down on his back and waited until the fit had passed. Aaron's eyes were closed, and his body was trembling with shock. The doctor wrote on the notes that he was to be sedated before any further examinations.

He could put his body back together, but his mind was a closed book. The damage was invisible. He hoped the love of his friends would be enough.

-0-0-0-

Reid was off the antibiotic drip, and was taking them orally now. There was still a danger of peritonitis, but as each day passed, he was further in the clear. He still had the tummy ache to end all tummy aches, but it was not as excruciating as it had been. Now he was allowed out of bed, and was sitting in the 'E-Z Cleen' chair, and he wanted to see Aaron.

Morgan searched the nearby rooms for a wheel chair for him, and found one outside the patients' toilet. He was almost back to Reid's room before he realised that he'd probably hi-jacked someone's chair while they were answering the call of nature..

_Ah well..._

Spencer looked at the chair for a minute or two before making a move.

It still hurt.

A lot.

Very slowly and carefully, his lips pressed together in pain, he hung onto Morgan and turned and sat in the wheelchair.

The last time he had seen Hotch was just before he passed out on the steps out of the cellar. Now he was going to see him again, he didn't know what to expect, and he tried to prepare himself, but it was still a shock when he saw him.

Aaron's usually healthy colour and athletic build was gone. He was pale and gaunt, looking fragile and easily broken, lying on his back, face to the wall. The machine in the corner breathed into the stoma, and the monitor counted his heart beats. If Spencer hadn't been able to see Aaron's chest rise and fall, or hear the monitor confirm that his heart was beating, he would have thought he was dead.

He asked Morgan to push him as close to the bed as possible, and Morgan left them alone to talk. Rossi had finally been persuaded to go home to sleep

Spencer reached out and touched Hotch.

Aaron flinched at the touch, drawing away from Reid.

"Hey, Hotch! It's me." he said, reaching for him and taking his hand.

His reaction this time was frightening. He snatched his hand from Reid, and his eyes widened. His lips parted and he screamed silently. His whole body tensed, and he threw his head back. Then the tears came.

"I am so sorry, Hotch. I didn't mean to frighten you." Reid put his hands in his lap and spoke gently to him.

"I won't touch you again, Aaron, I promise."

Hotch was crying silently and facing the wall. Reid longed to reach out to him.

"Please, Aaron, can you face me? I need to talk to you" Aaron continued looking at the wall. "I am so sorry I failed you. I am sorry I let this happen to you." he said. "I didn't work it out quickly enough, and so this happened. I'm so sorry." His voice was breaking up as he struggled to get the words out.

Aaron turned his head and faced Reid. His eyes which spoke his emotions louder than any words were wide but blank and empty, unfocussed. The emotions that should have been there were deeply hidden in his mind, and he didn't want anyone to be contaminated with them. Especially not these people who loved him, and whom he loved.

Reid looked deep into his eyes, past the agony and misery, trying to find something of Aaron Hotchner there. Aaron closed his eyes, and shook his head slowly.

_Spencer, please don't look into my eyes. There is nothing good there._

Suddenly, Reid knew.

He saw again the dark terrified eyes as he was raped and abused there in front of him.

And Reid felt empathy wash over him like an incoming tide.

_Oh Aaron. It's all right...it's all right..._

"It's ok, Hotch. I understand." Reid said softly. "Do you remember after I was held by Tobias, how you helped me back out of the gutter that Tobias pulled me into?" Reid felt a shudder run down his spine as he recalled how close he had come to losing everything after that. "Hotch, it was you that took my hand and helped me back out again. I wanted to die, to be free of the distress I was in, and I thought that was the only way out. But it wasn't. You showed me that. You saved my life and my sanity. Please, Aaron, let me do the same for you."

Aaron' turned his head to Reid, his dark eyes looking deeply into Spencer's hazel ones. Tears flowed still from his eyes, wetting his hair, tears that had fallen from his eyes unremittingly every waking moment since he had opened them.

"Please, Aaron, don't give up. You didn't give up on me. Please don't give up on yourself."

Reid took a tissue from the box by the bed. Hesitantly, he held it close to Aaron without touching him.

"May I?" he asked.

Aaron nodded slowly, and Spencer touched his skin with the tissue, absorbing the tears and with them some of the anguish that was Aaron's.

Reid remembered the words Gideon had spoken to him through Tobias's webcam, and how strengthened he was by those few words.

"Hotch, you will get through this. I promise you that. You are strong, you will make it."

Reid was starting to feel drained. He was scared for Hotch, and his suffering and misery had shaken Spencer to the core. But he loved Hotch, and there was nothing he wouldn't do to help him through this pain he was suffering.

"Aaron, I have to go back now, I need to lie down." Hotch didn't take his eyes off him. "I'll come back tomorrow."

He reached out to touch him, and remembered in time not to. Aaron tilted his head against Reid's fingertips. Reid stroked Aaron's face and brushed his fringe to one side. He smoothed his hair and touched his cheek with the backs of his fingers and smiled at him.

"He can't hurt you anymore, Aaron. And he can't break you." Reid said. "He's gone."

_We're going to make it through this together, Hotch._

He turned in his chair, and wheeled himself to the door.


	13. Helping and Healing

Chapter 13

Helping and Healing

'_**The game of life is hard to play; you're gonna lose it anyway.' The Theme from M.A.S.H. (Suicide is Painless)**_

Early the following day, the doctor came in. Aaron cringed away from him and stared at him with frightened eyes as he approached the bed

"It's ok, Mr. Hotchner. I am checking your IV's. I think we can take down the saline drip. Your blood count is in the normal range now."

Carefully, and trying to touch Aaron as little as possible, he slid the IV needles out of his inner elbows. That left glucose in one arm, and antibiotics in the other.

Aaron lay rigid and shaking with irrational fear. He knew he had nothing to be afraid of from the doctor, but his mind was saying otherwise, and the deep depression he was feeling was not allowing rational thought.

"We are going to try you off the ventilator, Mr. Hotchner. You will be able to speak." the doctor said. "I will leave the stoma, just on case we need to put it back on."

He reached down to Aaron's throat. The fear was too much for him and he tried to turn away, pressing himself against the wall. The doctor dropped his hands down. He really didn't want to sedate Hotch for this. He went to the door and opened it. Rossi was waiting outside to be allowed back in again.

"Mr. Rossi, maybe you could help me here."

Dave was on his feet in an instant.

"What is it doc? Is he all right?"

"He won't let me near enough to remove the ventilator." he said. "I thought you could perhaps calm him while I do it. I don't want to sedate him."

Aaron was allowing two people to touch him; Dave and Spencer. Dave sat beside Aaron and held his hand. Aaron was against the wall, and facing into the corner.

"Aaron, it's ok. I'm here. I won't let anything hurt you, I promise." Rossi softly touched the back of Aaron's head, feeling his thick hair still matted with blood. "The doctor just wants to remove the ventilator. I promise he won't hurt you."

Aaron slowly rolled onto his back, turning his head to look at Rossi. His eyes were full of anguish, but carefully, he lifted his other hand and placed it on Rossi's.

_I trust you, Dave..._

The doctor gently removed the ventilator from the trach in the front of Aaron's throat. For a moment, it looked as if he would have to put it back. When the machine stopped breathing for him, Aaron began to panic. He clenched his fists and tried to scream, lifting his back off the bed in fright. But his lungs refused to work.

Rossi stood and held Aaron's face in his hands and turned his head to look at him. His eyes, dark and frightened looked into Rossi's.

"It's ok, Hotch. Now lie still and you will start to breathe on your own."

Aaron struggled and his eyes widened, but at last, his lungs inflated, and his body took the much needed oxygen. His hands gripped Rossi's, complete trust in his eyes.

The doctor spoke from behind them.

"Mr. Hotchner, you may be able to speak. If you put you finger on the end of the tube, air will be re-directed across your larynx." he said. "You might find it is difficult at first, but you will be able to do it." He smiled. "I'll leave you to practice."

After he had gone, Aaron tentatively closed the tube. He tried to speak but all it resulted in was a fit of coughing. Dave rested his hand on Aaron's shoulder. When he tried again, he managed three he words:

"Dave...thank...you..."

Dave beamed at him. "Anytime, you know that. Would you like me to go get Spencer?"

Aaron nodded. "Need...to talk." he croaked.

Rossi went next door to Reid. "Hotch needs you, Spencer. I'll fetch a chair."

Spencer grinned remembering the telling off that Morgan had had after he swiped a chair the day before, stranding a poor man on the toilet for an hour while the nurses tried to locate it. Rossi was back however within a couple of minutes with a chair.

"Where did you get it?"

"From the chair store, three doors down."

Reid laughed. Wait until Morgan got back from breakfast. He couldn't wait to pull his leg about it.

"Hotch is off the ventilator." Rossi said. "He can talk."

-0-0-0-

Aaron lay alone in his room staring at the ceiling. He had tried to sit up but when he moved it felt like knives inside him. His eyes watered, and he moaned with the pain as he pressed down on the bed to pull himself up. But the pain was too much, and he lay back down again. He hadn't realised how weak his arms still were, and he thought he might ask Reid and Rossi to help him to sit. When they came into the room, he turned towards them, and placed his finger on the end of the tube.

"He...llo" he said, followed by a rasping cough. "Hurts...to talk...water pl...ease."

Dave got some water for Aaron, as Reid went to his side.

"It's so great to hear you talking, Hotch." he said, happy tears on his face. "I can't tell you how this makes me feel."

Rossi passed Hotch a little water, which Aaron sipped gratefully.

"Hotch, I need to tell you something." Reid said.

Aaron took Reid's hand in his own. "I know...what you...want...to say." Aaron said. "And the...answer is no...I won't acc...ept your ...resign...ation."

Reid rested his head on the bed, relieved. He didn't want to leave, but the guilt was tearing him up while Aaron's life was in the balance. He felt the overwhelming need to hug his boss. He looked at the frail man on the bed before him and gently laid his arm across his chest. Hotch rested his hands on Reid's arm.

"Dave," Aaron rasped painfully. "Please would you...get my comb ...from the drawer?"

Dave opened the drawer, and took out the comb. Hotch took it and tried to comb his hair with it, but his arms were so tired, that he couldn't do it.

"Let me help." Dave said, and taking the comb from Hotch's weak fingers, he carefully, without pulling, ran the comb through Aaron's thick dark hair, removing the last of the blood.

"Felt so...scruffy...hated it."

"Actually, I'm surprised you haven't got a tie on, Aaron. You are the least scruffy person in existence!"

He gently combed Aaron's hair so that it covered the shaved area at the back. He combed the fringe to one side, apart from a stubborn lock that insisted on falling across his forehead. Rossi touched it, smiling.

Suddenly, Aaron began to cry.

Dave and Spencer reached for him.

"Tell us Aaron." Dave said. "Open up to us. We want to help you."

"I am trying." he said. "I...am try...ing but...I can't ...I want to...die"

Aaron released the tube, and his silent cries broke the hearts of his two friends. Rossi sat on the bed and took Aaron's hands.

"We know, Aaron, and we understand." he said. "You are not alone in this. You can tell us anything in the utmost confidence."

Dave was crying. He couldn't say any more, his voice was breaking up.

"We will stand by you, we will walk your dreams with you, we will share your pain and humiliation, we will laugh and cry with you, and we will lift you up when you fall." Reid said, overcome with emotion.

"And we will never, ever leave you." Rossi said.

"But why?" Hotch looked at the two men in front of him through a mist of tears.

"Because we love you."


	14. Thursday's Children

**A/N to PanicButton...you may need a bucket!**

Chapter 14

Thursday's Children

"_**Without realizing it, the individual composes his life according to the laws of beauty even in times of greatest distress."**__** Milan Kundera **_

"I am sorry, but there's nothing more we can do for him here." the doctor said. "Physically he's recovered against all odds. But the rest of his recovery is in his mind. There are two options open to him. He can either be admitted into a psychiatric hospital, or he can go home. But I must stress, if he goes home, he must be with someone at all times." He looked across the desk at the three distressed men opposite him. "I understand that you are his brother," he said, looking at Sean. "As his closest relative, the decision is yours. If you want my advice, a psychiatric hospital is the best place for him."

Sean felt his world fall apart around him. He and Aaron had not always seen eye to eye on things, particularly his choice of career, but he had always looked up to his stronger older brother. When they were little, Aaron had always stood between him and his father, and taken beatings for him, confessed to things he hadn't done and taken the punishment for him. As a child he hadn't really understood why he'd done it, but now he knew why.

It was Aaron's extraordinary capacity to love.

And now he was an empty shell, a broken man who had taken one too many beatings. He didn't know how to deal with it.

"Please, can we discuss it privately?" Sean asked the doctor.

"Of course. Use this office. I will leave you alone for as long as you need. When you want me, have a nurse page me."

He left the three of them on his office. No one spoke for a long time, each trying to come to terms with what they had just been told.

Reid broke the silence.

"I will never allow Aaron to be institutionalised."

"I feel I should take him home with me." Sean said. "But I don't know if I could cope. We aren't that close, you know. But I can't have him put away." Sean rested his elbows on his knees, and wept into his hands. "Oh god...what am I going to do?"

"I'll take him home with me." Rossi spoke for the first time. "That is, Sean, if you are willing."

"You would do that?" Sean was shocked. "You will care for my brother?"

"For as long as it takes. I know I will get lots of support. Spencer and I know him well. We are like a family at the BAU."

"Maybe you could work out looking after Jack with Haley's sister. Then Aaron wouldn't have that on his mind." said Reid.

"I can't believe you're doing this." Sean said. "I don't know what to say!"

"Just say you'll visit." Rossi smiled at Sean. "We want to do this. Don't ever feel bad about it."

Sean stood up. "I need to go now. Jack is with a sitter, and I don't like to leave him for too long." He had to get out of there. He was never the strong brother, especially emotionally. He didn't want to break down in front of these two.

Reid and Rossi stood up and shook his hand. "We'll let you know when to bring Jack to see him."

Sean walked past Aaron's room on the way back to the car he had rented. He stopped and watched his brother through the window. He was sleeping, and he had thrown his covers on the floor. He was thrashing his arms and protecting his face from an unseen attacker. Sean had been told some of what had happened to him, but not everything. Only that he had been beaten and flogged almost to death. Sean wiped a stray tear from his eyes, wishing that he had the courage to take him home. He knew he was going to be haunted by that decision. But he couldn't help it.

He put his hand on the glass.

"I'm so very sorry, Aaron." he whispered. "Please forgive me."

-0-0-0-

"So it's just the logistics to be worked out now, Spencer." Rossi said. "I have plenty of room, he could stay with me, and you could too if you wish. Or He could go to his own house, and we could stay there, together, or take turns."

"I think your place would be better." Reid said "He's still getting over Haley. He would be less likely to get upset at your place."

"True. Ok, that's that decision made. Now will you move in? At least for the first few weeks. Straus will give us leave."

"She will? For us both?"

"Oh yes. You don't have to worry about that." Dave had a knowing look on his face. Reid of course didn't understand...

"Shall we go and tell Aaron? After all, it's his life we're planning here." Dave stood up and put his hand on the door handle.

"Dave?"

"Yes?"

"He is going to get better, isn't he?"

-0-0-0-

Dave and Spencer stood where Sean had been standing a few minutes before, and watched their friend sleeping. He was calmer now than he had been when Sean was there, but his skin glistened with sweat, and they could see that his breathing was erratic and uneven. His arms were straight out to the sides, and he had been crying. Both Dave and Spencer knew from bitter experience how debilitating nightmares were, but they also knew it was better than not sleeping.

Aaron had to be given sedatives at night because he feared sleep, and would fight it and quickly become exhausted. Only time and healing would stop the dreams, and Dave and Spencer were prepared to give both.

They went into Aaron's room and Reid called to him softly.

"Aaron, wake up, Love. We have some good news for you." He stroked his hair. "Aaron, it's Dave and Reid. Wake up now."

Aaron opened his eyes warily, and turned his head towards them. He smiled when he saw them, and relaxed. He put his hand on the stoma.

"Good news?"

"We're taking you out of here." Reid said.

"The Doctor has said you can come and stay at my place for a while, until you are better."

"When?"

"Tomorrow. We are going to get your room ready tonight, and come and get you in the morning."

"Will you be there, Spencer?"

"Both of us. Straus has given us as much time as we need to get you well again" Reid clasped his hand in both of his. "We're going to get you through this, Aaron. The three of us together."

"We are going to go now, and as soon as the room is ready, we will come back. I think Morgan is coming to sit with you while we are away."

"He's probably here already."

They left Aaron lying awake and thinking of what Reid and Rossi had said. They were giving up so much for him. Aaron pressed his hands against his face and cried. He didn't want to burden others with his inability to cope. He was, or at least he used to be, a strong man who could cope with anything – vicious UnSubs, devastated victims, terrified witnesses. He could remember doing all these things. Now he couldn't even face leaving this room to walk along the corridor. The thought of leaving the safety of the hospital and facing people he didn't know frightened him and made his hands ball into fists. He closed his eyes and saw the flooded cellar again, relived the beating and abuse, felt his confidence and strength ripped away from him in a few minutes of cruel violence, leaving the empty broken man he now was.

How could he allow these two lovely people to give so much to him, when he had nothing left to give back? His heart ached.

Aaron prayed. He didn't pray often, but tonight, his prayers were fervent and he supplicated the God whose existence he was unsure of.

He prayed that he would not wake up.

He turned onto his side and curled his body forwards, as much as he could before the pain inside crippled him, hugged the pillow to his face, and cried until the pillow was wet with shed tears.


	15. The First Step

Chapter 15

The First Step

"_**The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love." - Hubert H. Humphrey**_

Reid and Rossi returned to the hospital the next morning. They had got a room ready for Aaron downstairs, so that he wouldn't have to climb stairs. It was Dave's office, but he decided he'd rather have Aaron there. There was a bathroom opposite, so it was perfect. Reid was staying in a room upstairs, but for now, they were spending alternate nights on the couch so that they could be near Aaron should he need them.

On the way to the hospital they called Erin Strauss.

"I am very sorry, Agent Rossi, I cannot allow you both to have in definite leave. This office does not run like that."

"I am sorry too," Rossi said, "But we are taking the leave. Hotchner needs us, and he is our priority."

"Before your careers?"

"Certainly before our careers Ma'am. If the alternative is to resign, please accept our resignation forthwith."

"I want to see both of you in my office, Agent Rossi, so this can be discussed properly. Let's say tomorrow at nine o'clock."

"There's nothing to discuss, Ma'am. However, we will be staying at my house – you know where that is – and I would be happy to see you there. If you wish to take our guns and ID, please send an agent round to collect them. If you wish, we will keep you apprised on Agent Hotchner's condition."

Strauss pressed her lips together angrily. David always seemed to get the better of her, and she rued the day she ever allowed herself to get close to him. Lost for words, and out manoeuvred again by Rossi, she said she would like daily updates, and put the phone down in frustration.

Rossi smiled at the phone.

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" Reid said, getting into the SUV.

"Yes, I did actually!" Rossi said, surprised. "She is such a controller; it's good to control her for a change."

Reid's profiling instinct rushed to the fore. "You two have been close in the past, haven't you?"

Rossi didn't reply and got into the driver's seat. From the look on Reid's face, he wouldn't have believed a denial. And he wasn't about to admit to anything.

-0-0-0-

Aaron was sitting on the bed when they arrived. He was trembling, and his hands were clenched into fists on the sheets. His face shone with sweat, and he was whimpering softly. He didn't notice Reid and Rossi come in; he was staring at the floor between his feet.

He was terrified of going outside.

"Aaron." Rossi said gently. "Are you ok?"

Aaron looked up and tried to regain control. He didn't want them to see just how much of a state he was in. He had read the PTSD could do this, make you afraid to leave the house, but he could never understand it. Now he was experiencing it for himself, and it was terrifying. He could remember how he was before, and it upset him that he wasn't coping. He glanced to the box of meds on the bed next to him; pain relief, anti nausea, anti-depressants, and sedatives for night time. He picked up the box and scrunched it up in his hand. He wanted to throw it, but he managed enough self control not to.

He put the other hand on the stoma. "No."

Reid gently took the box from his hand and put it in his bag. "It will be ok, I promise. You can trust us, Aaron."

Aaron leaned forward and put his forehead against Spencer's

"I trust the two of you," he said, "With my life."

"Are you ok to walk, or shall I get a chair?" Rossi asked, willing to leave them alone if they wanted him to.

"I'll walk." Aaron was determined to be 'normal', show the world that there was nothing wrong. He slid off the bed and reached for his bag. Dave let him carry it. He knew the feeling of having his dignity stripped away. Instead, he put out his arm for support, and they very slowly walked to the foyer.

-0-0-0-

Rossi had commandeered the jet so that Aaron wouldn't have to travel in a plane with people he didn't know. Spencer sat in the back of the SUV with Aaron, Rossi drove to the airport. Aaron leaned on Reid's shoulder, and Reid had his arm around him. Aaron didn't speak, but his body was tense and shaking. Reid held him close, trying to covey to him that he wouldn't allow anything to hurt him. He knew Aaron was crying – fear, depression, grief all overwhelming – but Spencer didn't flinch. Sometimes, he thought, it's good to cry.

Aaron was much more relaxed on the plane. He started to speak about cases they'd been to in the jet, as if he felt at home, away from strangers. He even laughed at one point when he remembered Garcia's first flight with them.

But during the car ride back to Rossi's place, the tension was back, and Aaron sat rigid with fear in the back of the car.

When at last they arrived 'home' Rossi went to unlock the door, and Aaron slowly walked from the car supported by Reid.

Rossi's house was rich and understated, furnishings expensive but not over the top. Dave's reasoning when choosing things for his home seemed to be comfort before anything else. Reid led Aaron to the couch and helped him lower himself into it.

"Thanks, both of you." Aaron said with a shaky voice. He hadn't spoken since leaving the jet. He rested his head back and closed his eyes.

"You can go to bed to rest if you wish." Rossi said. "Treat this as your home, Aaron. Do as you wish, and help yourself to anything you want. Let me show you your bedroom."

Dave held out his hand and helped Aaron to his feet.

"If I could have a shower first..."

"Yes 'course you can. There is a bathroom opposite your room for your use. I'll show you."

"I'll make coffee." Spencer said, watching Dave lead Aaron slowly out of the room.

_This is so awful. This should never have happened to him. How can I ever forget that this is my fault? How could this man, who has lead the team from the front for so long, faced so many dreadful threats and survived, how could he have been brought so low?_

There was still so much healing needed. Although the wounds he had received were no longer life threatening, He was still cut to pieces inside, and the pain on his face was obvious, although he tried to hide it. Dave and Spencer knew him well enough that the tiniest frown and pinched look was not lost on them.

They understood what the trauma of Rape could do to a man. They had seen it in their work – strong independent men brought low by wanton acts of savagery. They could not allow this to break Aaron. He was loved and needed by too many people to be put away somewhere and forgotten.

Spencer took the coffee through the living room to Aaron's bedroom, and put a mug by Aaron's bed, then he went back to sit opposite Rossi.

"I'll take the first sleep on the couch." he said.

"I think I should." Rossi countered. "You have been overdoing it. You have had surgery too."

"Yes," Reid argued, "But I have had a bed every night. You've been in a chair."

Rossi sighed. He could see he was going to have a problem with this one!

-0-0-0-

Both men were tired, and soon after Aaron closed his door, they decided to turn in. Reid wrapped himself in the quilt Dave had given him, and snuggled into the sofa with a second mug of coffee and a book about cinema in the nineteen thirties, that he had picked up off the coffee table. He wondered if Rossi had left it there for him. It had interesting photographs which kept Reid riveted long into the night. He put the book back where he had found it, when he heard a cry from Aaron.

He quickly got up and made his way in the dark to Hotch's room, bashing his shin on the coffee table on the way.

Aaron was in the throes of a nightmare, something so familiar to Reid. He had had some about the cellar, so it wasn't surprising that Aaron was. Reid sat on the bed carefully, and moved up so that he was sitting on the pillow. He lifted Aaron's head onto his lap, and soothingly stroked his face.

"It's ok, Aaron. I'm here, you are safe."

Aaron reached up to take Reid's hand, and gripped it tightly. Reid rested his head on the wall behind him and, one hand in Aaron's hair, the other holding his hand, he fell asleep.

When Rossi came in the next morning, that's how he found them. Smiling to himself, he went to make breakfast.

_Yes, Aaron Hotchner, you will get through this..._

-0-0-0-

**END**


	16. Epilogue

Acts of God and Men - The Epilogue (Chapter 16)

"_**There would be no passion in this world if we never had to fight for what we love." - Susie Switzer**_

There was a knock on the door, and Aaron got up to answer it. The three of them had been sitting watching a Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan film, Spencer and Rossi had made a point of making sure that Aaron was sitting closest to the door.

He was still limping, and his gait was stiff and awkward, but the physio was helping and he no longer needed the pain killers. He was able to leave the house alone now, and walk in Dave's huge garden, and even go into shops on his own while his friends waited outside. He had been back into hospital to have the stoma closed, and could speak easily again. And sometimes he smiled.

He was getting better, and was now thinking maybe he would be able to go back to work again one day.

He opened the heavy old door and gasped in delight.

Two little arms reached up to him. "Hello Daddy"

Kneeling down in the doorway he drew his little boy to him and hugged him.

"Ahh Jacky!" He nuzzled the child's soft auburn hair. "Oh I love you. I've missed you so much!"

"Love you too, Daddy."

Aaron looked up at Jessica. "Thank you for bringing him round. How long have I got?"

"As long as you want, Aaron. He's your son."

Aaron smiled at her and stood up with Jack in his arms. Jessica noticed Aaron flinch as he put his weight on his legs. "Please, come in."

Jessica followed Aaron as he walked carefully back into the living room. Dave pointed the remote and turned the television off. He and Spencer both stood.

"Coffee?" offered Reid.

"Yes please." Jessica said, sitting down at Dave's bidding. Dave followed Reid into the kitchen.

Jessica looked at Aaron, concern in her eyes. "How are things for you now, Aaron?"

"Getting there. And you? I know things have been sad for you since...since the accident."

"The worst of it is, I wasn't getting on with Haley. It makes me feel so guilty. I didn't agree with what she was doing. We had just had a big argument when the accident happened."

"I can really understand what you are saying, Jess." Aaron said. "We weren't exactly on speaking terms either. I miss her though. I'd always hoped in the back of my mind that there was a chance for us."

Aaron sat opposite his sister-in-law, still holding Jack tightly. Jack's arms were linked around Aaron's neck.

The coffee arrived, with some fruit bread that Rossi had made. (Aaron had been banned from the kitchen after he blew up an un-blow-up-able pressure cooker.)

Dave sat by Aaron. "Aaron, how would you feel about going out to eat tonight? We could all go," he said.

"I...I don't know. I haven't been anywhere that public. I don't know." He had a worried frown on his face. Rossi put his hand on Aaron's arm.

"We could try it if you like. I'll call the restaurant and ask for a table close to the door. If you feel panicky, we can leave."

"We'll all be there for you." Reid said. "It's a big step, but you won't be taking it alone."

"And Jacky will be there to support you. And so will I." said Jessica.

"Ok, then. I'll go for it." Aaron said, doing his best to sound confident. He hugged Jack a little closer to him.

_I'll do this for you, Jacky-Boy. I want to be a good Dad for you, and I so I need to do this._

-0-0-0-

Aaron changed into a white tee shirt and black waist coat, and black Levis. He felt himself shake as he waked to the car. Jessica walked beside him, and Aaron thought that he liked it. They sat in the back of the car with Jack in his car seat between them. Aaron was happy. He had forgotten the feeling, and it took him by surprise.

"Is Jack staying with you now, or are you still taking turns with Sean?" Aaron asked. Something he had forgotten how to do was have a relaxed conversation. But at least he didn't mention the weather!

"Yes he's with me. Sean has gone back to work, and the travelling was getting too much. We both thought Jack should be near you."

The journey was over before Aaron had a chance to panic. Jessica was distracting him from the journey. Dave smiled to himself.

They sat at a table near the door, and Aaron sat so that he could see it. Jessica sat one side, Jack the other in a high chair. Reid sat by Jessica and Dave between him and Jack. Aaron was relaxed and happy for most of the evening. It wasn't until a group of four drunks came in and started mouthing off, that Aaron felt an adrenalin rush.

One of them spotted Jessica.

"Oh and Lookie here at this little doll!" said one of them.

His friend however took more interest in Spencer. "I prefer the boy doll next to her!"

Jessica was frightened. Rossi could see it in her eyes. "Just sit still, don't speak, don't make eye contact." he said quietly.

The only other diners, two elderly people, left the restaurant by the back way, guided by the waiter. who then picked up the phone.

"What's the old guy mumbling?" smirked a third.

"I think maybe we should go." Dave whispered to the others. "Get up slowly, walk to the door. Are you alright with Jack?"

"Fine." said Aaron. As he turned to undo Jack's strap, one of the guys grabbed Jess and pulled her off the chair. She screamed, and then everything happened at once. Aaron swung round to confront him. A fist in the stomach and Aaron made a 'mmph' sound as air was forced from his lungs and he fell to the floor, winded. The one who had liked the look of Reid pulled him off his chair. Dave stood up to protect his 'family' and a fist in the face sent him backwards across the table, crashing through it onto the floor. He groaned and stayed down. Adrenalin surged through Aaron and he stood up to confront the four men, hardly feeling the pain he was in. One against four, but he didn't see that. His child was in danger, and his two closest friends were being attacked. And a woman, someone he thought he could grow to like...

"This is the biggest mistake of your life."

He punched one of them in the face, followed up with a kick to the knees. He fell like a stone. Reid kicked backwards and caught his aggressor under the kneecap. As his grip loosened, he turned and followed it up, knocking him out. Aaron felt hands on his throat from behind. The pain shot through him as his weakened neck was being squeezed; he could see spots before his eyes. He made himself let go of the hands at his throat, and punched backwards, hitting his attacker on the nose. The grip was instantly weakened, and Aaron turned and laid him out.

The only one left standing was the guy holding Jessica by the upper arms. He stood watching, too shocked to decide what to do. His mind was made up when Jessica stamped the heel of her shoe onto the top of his foot. He howled in pain, released her, and tried to run. The waiter, who was standing by the door, stuck out his foot and the guy went sprawling across the floor. Aaron lifted him up by the collar and held him against the wall.

"Don't you EVER touch a woman like that again!"

Aaron threw him out of the door, and leaned back against it, breathing heavily, leaning down with his hands resting on his knees. He hurt all over, and he thought he could be bleeding, but he felt exhilarated.

Jack was banging his tray and laughing. "Daddy fight!"

Reid was helping Dave to his feet. "You missed a treat, Dave!" he laughed. Jessica had her arms around Aaron, sobbing on his shoulder.

"It's ok, Jess. Don't cry, they've gone." he said, holding her face in his hands. "Well, not actually gone, but as good as!"

He put his arm around her and limped painfully over to Jack.

"Naughty Daddy fight." he said. Aaron laughed at his little boy, and touched him gently.

"I think you'll be back at work soon, Aaron." said Dave, letting his broken nose bleed into a handkerchief.

Aaron picked up a bottle of wine that had somehow escaped destruction.

He took Jack out of the highchair, and held him on one hip, and his other arm he put around Jessica's shoulders.

"Let's go home." he said.

-0-0-0-

**THE ABSOLUTELY END!**


End file.
